EarthBound 200X
by Flying Zamboni 2
Summary: Pokey returns and begins his plans for vengance.
1. Prolouge

**EarthBound 200X By Flying Zamboni 2**  
Prologue 

Pokey's mangled spider mech was falling through the air over Dalaam. His mech had finally  
run out of power. Unfortunatly for Pokey this caused the machine to stop traveling through  
the time stream and be ripped out and into a random location of the earth. The last thing  
Pokey saw before the crash was a giant elephant statue. 

He awoke in a golden room and saw a man with what appeared to be a phone on his head.  
"You what year is it? Were am I?...ANSWER ME!" Pokey kept yelling at the man, all the while  
getting angrier. He eventualy deemed it hopeless and sat back down on the bed, when an old  
man walked into the room, "I can answer your questions young man. You are in Dalaam. The year is 200X one year after the defeat of the Cosmic Destroyer."  
"Dalaam...how did I get here?"  
"Your machine was found outside. It crashed into one of our golden elephants at the palace  
gates. You were brought in here, treated and have scince slept for three days."  
"I see...heh your prince doesn't happen to be here does he?"  
"I'm afraid not he has gone on a vacation in Onett. He has left me in charge."  
"Excellent!" with that Pokey stood up and shot the old man with a laser in his back pocket.  
He then pulled out a small device and pressed a button on it. A blinding beam of light filled  
the room and when it dissapeared, Pokey stood looking exactly as the old man. 

A sickening strain of laughter was heard as Pokey prepeared to use his newfound identity  
to order the technology he needed to set his plans of vengeance into motion. 

Twoson  
"Put down the gun!" yelled Everdread, now Captain of the Twoson police force. The hostage  
situation had been going on for hours now. The madman named Cain was held up in Polestar  
Preschool with a small child in a chokehold and a gun put near her head. Paula and the rest of the children were fortunantly at the park when Cain had walked into the school  
posing as a child's parent. 

"How much would you pay me for the life of this small child? Three no maybe four thousand? I  
won't give her up that easily as she is the only thing keeping Miss Polestar there from  
coming in and beating me into a bloody pulp." Said Cain as he pointed to Paula, now standing  
with the police force.  
"It's really rather funny how much this child's life is worth to you people. You all would  
pay me huge sums of money just to see her come out of this alive. Or I could simply pull the  
trigger and throw that all away just to see that look of horror and sadness at the waste of  
such a young life. Indeed my power over life and death is intoxicating! And scince I have no  
use for money..." Cain pulled the trigger, the girl screamed; the crowd cried out in horror,  
yet the bullet remained suspended in mid air, inches away from the girl's head. Paula stood in the crowd, hand out, concentrating.  
"NOW NESS! WHILE I CAN STILL HOLD THE BULLET!" she yelled as Ness jumped out of the crowd and broke down the door of the preschool, much to Cain's terror. Ness immediatley jumped up, bat drawn, and came down upon Cain. He could only stick out his hand and scream in a desperate attempt to stop the angry Ness. Much to the surprise of both of the opponents, a small ball of light came out of Cain's hand and struck Ness in the chest, knocking him back.  
"That was PSI! How did you-" but Ness was cut short by another blast.  
"I could really care less how I did that, as long as it gives me the power to kill you."  
Cain prepared to fire another blast but stopped short by the little girl, hanging off of his neck. Ness took this opprotunity to land a hard hit to Cain's stomach. Cain got up and pulled  
out his gun.  
"I was hoping to torment you longer, but I guess I'll just have to kill you now!" Cain pulled the trigger only to find his hand solidified in ice. To his horror, the ice began to spread up his arm. He turned his head and looked out the window to see Paula, no longer having to hold the bullet, with two of her fingers pointed at him.  
"You! You did this! I swear I will have my vengeance Miss Polestar! Just...you...wait." He said as the ice finished solidifying his body. 

Off in the distance, a tall figure sat in the shadows, watching the whole thing. When it was over, the figure stood up, smiled, and teleported away.


	2. Rise To Power

** EarthBound 200X By Flying Zamboni 2   
Chapter 1: Rise To Power **

Poo sat in silent meditation in the cliffs of Onett. He had been feeling some disturbing aura's for the past three weeks, yet he couldn't determine were they were coming from. Poo prepared to try one more time. He took a deep breath and concentrated. This time he managed to  
locate one aura in the Winters Asylum. He knew that it had to be that Cain fellow Ness had told him about. He tried to find the other two auras, but as soon as he got close, a sharp pain ran through his body and he lost it. He sighed, got up, and began to walk to Ness' house. 

Pokey sat in the palace throne room thinking of what to do about Poo, he would most likely be returning soon and then Pokey's plans would all be stopped prematurely. He sat there contemplating his next move, when he came across the holograph machine in his pocket and was  
struck with a genius idea. He bid all but one of his servants away.   
"You wish to speak to me elder?" said the young man.   
"Why yes. Do you see that sword on the mantel over there?"   
"Yeah...why?"   
"Could you go and get it for me?"   
"But of course sir!" With that, the boy got the sword and handed it to Pokey who instantly stabbed him. Pokey then took out his machine and aimed it at the servant. Another flash ensued and when it was gone, the boy lay there in the form of Poo.   
Pokey laughed," This should get Poo to come, but at least he won't be able to gain support from the people! Well, Back to work!" Pokey let out a blood-curdling scream. Immediately, one of his servants came into the throne room.   
"What is it Master?"   
"Look on the ground moron-I mean...The prince has killed himself! I was sitting here when he teleported in. He drew his sword and stabbed himself! In his last breath, he told me to rule in his place." 

The servant gasped and covered his mouth. He gazed at Pokey in shock," What should we do now master?"   
"We shall hold a proper burial and then shall begin the coronation ceremonies." 

Ness, Jeff, and Paula sat in Ness' backyard. They were huddled around a small mechanical Mr. Saturn. 

"What is it Jeff?" 

"My latest invention Ness! I call it, the Mr. Saturn bomb! It's my way of thanking them for aiding us in the defeat of Giygas! This little baby has the power of three Multi Bottle Rockets! It uses advanced technology in which-" 

Paula interrupted his stream of scientific jargon," Wait, wait, wait! So you're saying that you've turned those innocent little Mr. Saturns into a weapon of mass destruction as a means to _thank_ them?" 

"Yeah, so?"   
Paula opened her mouth but was interrupted by Poo, who appeared out of nowhere behind her. 

"Ness, may I use your television? I have this odd feeling that I must turn on the news." 

"Err, sure Poo. When you get that feeling it normally means something. Maybe it has something to do with that uneasy feeling that you and Paula have had for the past few weeks." 

Within moments, the four were sitting in Ness' family room, gathered around the T.V. Ness picked up the remote and turned it to Eagleland World News. The young newscaster appeared on the screen and finished up the previous story. 

"...And the Summers Police subdued the riot with some well placed road blocks. And now to our top story. The young Prince Poo of Dallam was found dead a few hours ago. The only eyewitness was the man put in charge to watch Dallam while the Prince was taking a holiday to Onett. The old man claims that the Prince teleported in front of him and killed himself, leaving the country to him. The coronation ceremony finished moments ago and will be shown to you now." 

A recording of Poo's former master began to play. When it was finished, Ness turned off the T.V. and sat dumbfounded. After a moment of awkward silence, Poo spoke. 

"I must leave now." 

"Wait Poo! Let us go with you." 

"I'm sorry Ness, but I must deal with this myself." 

Before further argument, Poo left the house and teleported to Dallam. 

When Poo arrived in Dallam, he saw many people dressed in black and weeping over his death. He walked over to a woman that he knew and touched her shoulder. She looked up at him and became angry. 

"The new king has warned us about people like you! Trying to pose as the dead prince to try and get the throne! You make me sick! Get out of my sight!" 

The woman ran away into her house and locked the door. When the other villagers saw him, they did the same. Poo looked angrily at the palace and began to walk up the hills of Dallam and up to the golden doors. No sooner had he put his hand on the handle then he was stopped by a voice from behind him. Poo turned to see a Dallamise boy in a tattered brown cloak holding a long sickle. The boy looked to be Poo's age and had his same expression of one trained under Mu. Poo looked at him in shock for a few moments before saying," Impossible." 

The boy's expression became sad as he spoke to Poo. 

"I don't wish to hurt you Poo. Leave and never return."   
Poo spoke as if dazed.   
"Koga? I can't believe it! You're still alive?" 

"I have no time for pleasantries, please leave before I am forced to hurt you." 

"NO! I cannot leave until this conspiracy is uncovered! Nor can I believe that you are a part of it!" 

"Then you leave me no choice. Forgive me." 

Koga charged at Poo with incredible speed and swung his sickle. It hit nothing but air as Poo jumped up and kicked Koga in the chin. Koga regained balance with a back flip and pulled out a boomerang. It caught Poo by surprise and hit him in the chest. He stumbled backward and teetered on the edge of the floating continent. Koga rushed forward and extended his hand. As Poo reached out to grab it, a laser blast  
came from the throne room window and hit Poo in the chest. He lost consciousness as he plummeted to the earth below. 


	3. Escape

**EarthBound 200X By Flying Zamboni 2 Chapter 2: Escape**  
  
Night fell. Ness and the group had become worried about Poo and had teleported to Dalaam multiple times. But each time, the civillians only looked at them in disgust when they asked about Poo, and the guards at the palace had turned the group away saying that in this period of mourning, the new king did not wish to speak with anyone. The more insistant they became to let them enter, the more insistant the guards became for them to leave. Eventually, the group decided to try and resolve the situation in the morning. 

Ness was dreaming. It was an odd dream. He experianced an odd feeling of happiness and then a sudden feeling of dissapointment and confusion. A sudden burning on his chest, a feeling of hoplessness, and finally the sound of running water. 

Ness awoke with a start and was unable to sleep for the rest of the night. For him, a dream that ominous yet specific usually meant something. He spent the night thinking where he had heard running water like that before. It suddenly hit him in a flash of clairity. He must go to Peacefull Rest Valley. 

Winters Assylum 

Cain sat bored in his cell, bouncing a rubber ball against an opposite wall and gazing longingly out into the night sky with his yellow eyes. He had to get out of this squandering mudhole. He pointed his hand at a nearby pebble and concentrated hard. A very small orb of light shot from his hand but only moved the pebble an inch or two. Cain scowled and bounced the ball harder. Ever scince the day of his capture, he had not been able to reproduce another powerful blast of PSI. 

The guard outside of Cain's cell door stood armed with a small firearm. He wasn't happy that he'd had to work the late shift because the other guy had gotten sick. He had important things he'd rather be doing. Such as winning that solataire tournament he'd had planned for tonight. However the annoyed guard's prayer's were answered as another guard walked up to him. 

"I'm taking over your shift," he said as he flashed a card that looked vaguely like ID,"You're free to go." The old guard smiled and jovially left the gloomy place. The new guard took out a ring of keys and opened the cell door. Cain was on him instantly. He lunged at the guard and grabbed him by the neck and attempted to take the man's gun. To Cain's surprise, the guard punched Cain in the stomach and winded him. The next thing Cain saw was a knee flying at his face. 

A bruised Cain staggered to his feet and smirked,"A competant guard. Didn't see that one coming." 

The guard looked at Cain in disgust and in a puff of smoke, changed form. He was now a young man in a tattered brown cloak. He calmly spoke to Cain,"Haroldson, Cain. Wanted for three murders, two arsons, assaulting multiple officers of the law, and detaining someone against their will. Is this information correct?" 

"Yeah. It's actually four arsons, but who's counting? What do you want from me?" 

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Koga. My master in Dalaam has a proposition for you. He's willing to grant you the power to escape from this place, if you pledge eternal loyalty." 

Cain's demeanor brightened at the idea of freedom. The loyalty part didn't appeal to him that much, but he'd find a way out of that soon enough. 

"Allright, sounds good. What do I have to do?" 

Koga pulled out what appeared to be a remote detonator with intestine-like strands of metal weaving around it. "This," began Koga,"is the last remaining piece of an anchient machine called, 'The Devil's Machine.' This anchient device held great amounts of PSI energy that it used to keep its user under control. Eventually the machine was broken and my master salvaged a small peice of it and converted it into this device. It has the power to bring out the full potential of anyone naturally born with PSI. Fortunantly for you, you were." He placed the device on a small table and continued,"If you use it, you will have untold powers unleashed within you. you may do whatever you wish with these powers for a short time, but eventually my master will contact you so that you may fulfill your contract." 

Koga relaxed and took a deep breath and was the guard again. He left the room and the stunned Cain. Cain took everything that had been said to him and stared at the device infront of him. He eventually figured,"Why not?" And grabbed the device. He pressed the button and instantly the device became seering hot, yet strangly enough Cain could not let go of it. He felt strength pour inside of him and he realized countless powers he had never known before. The device cooled down and finished it's work. Cain smiled and crushed the device in his hand. He then noticed that he had inadvertantly set the table infront of him on fire with his mind. What began as a quiet chuckle turned into insane laughing mixed with terrified screams as the prison erupted into chaos. 

By the next mourning, Cain was in a Fourside bar watching the news on the unexplained incineration of the Winters Assylum while putting on a black bowler hat on over his short black hair and smoothing out his new suit. 


	4. Inferno

**EarthBound 200X By Flying Zamboni 2 **

**Chapter 3: Inferno **

Jeff stared at his now compleated rapid fire laser with his bloodshot eyes in his dimly lit room at his father's laboratory. It had taken him fourteen hours to work on it and he hadn't had an sleep all night. He wearily put the weapon down and staggered into his bed, falling face down onto his pillow. His eyes began to close and he started to drift into a peaceful and well deserved sleep. 

Suddenly his door swung open with a lound band and Dr. Andonuts flew into the room and grabbed the sheets on top of Jeff, "Wakey, wakey son! Paula and Ness just arrived and I've been sent to wake you up! It's urgent says they!" 

Dr. Andonuts suddenly yanked the covers off of the bed and curled them into a ball into his hands, "And I'll just wash these in case you wet the bed again!" 

Jeff's face turned red, "Dad, the last time that happened was eight day-" he looked over to see Paula and Ness standing in his doorway. Paula was stifiling a laugh. 

"-years ago! Not days, heh!" 

Embarassed, Jeff, still fully clothed, walked over to his friends and regained his composure olmost immediatly, "Well then, what seems to be the problem?" 

Paula spoke first, "Ness got a vision last night that may be a clue as to where Poo is!" 

"Where is he?" Asked Jeff excitedly. 

Ness thought for a moment and then spoke, "I'm not positive, but I think he's somewhere along the Peaceful Rest River. I think he may be dying." 

"Oh, God." 

"We have to hurry," said Paula, "We might not have much time." 

Jeff agreed and he quickly gatherd some equiptment including the rapid fire laser. The three chosen saviors ran out of the laba and quickly teleported to the outskirts of Twoson just outside of Peaceful Rest Valley. 

Paula turned to the others, "Allright, let's split up once we get out of the cave." She pointed at Jeff and Ness, "You two check opposite sides of the river and I'll look through the rest of the valley just in case." 

Ness and Jeff both nodded their heads in agreement and the three began to sprint toward the cave leading into the valley. Ness let out a cry of surprise as he bumped into a man in an expensive black suit and bowler hat carrying a breifcase. The man gave and angry grunt as he fell to the ground. He gave a quick glance up and then discreatly put on a pair of sunglasses large enough to hide any recognizable features on the upper part of his face. 

Ness quickly bent down to help the man up, "I'm so sorry sir, I was in a rush and-" 

The man interrupted in a plesant voice, "Think nothing of it my boy! I know all about rushing around and the like. I am a travelling salesman after all. See my breifcase." He showed the group his briefcase, "Speaking of which, would you like to buy some..." he quickly opened his breifcase as if he himself had no idea what was inside of it, "...a, um, handy... diamonds?" He said "diamonds" in a very surprised and confused voice. 

He quietly muttered, "Who _was_ that guy I mugged for this thing?" 

Paula interrupted his murmers in a polite tone, "I'm sorry sir but we really must be going. We're... looking for something in Peaceful Rest Valley and we need to find it soon." 

"Oh?" responded the man with odd interest, "Ah you must be Miss Polestar yes? Well Miss Polestar, I hope you find what you're looking for. I have some buisness to attend to myself in Twoson Miss Polestar. Hope I see you again soon." The man tipped his hat and walked off. 

Paula shuddered and said, "What a creepy guy." 

"Yes," said Jeff factually, "most travelling salesmen are a little excentric, we shouldn't worry about it. Let's get moving!" 

--------------------------------------------------- 

A phone rang in the office of Francis Labs, brother of Maxwell Labs. 

The pale skinned, red haired man reached for the phone and answered, "Hello, Labs' Robotics, President Francis Labs speaking... You want _how_ much machinery? That would sell out our entire inventory! How could you possibly pay for all of that? ... And _what?!_ I'm sorry sir, but we don't sell _that_ kind of machinery here. We are a respectable industry, not some kind of black marke-_how_ much Dallam gold!? It'll be there by tomorrow good sir! Just keep the delivery quiet." 

Francis hung up the phone and giggled to himself. He didn't know what Dallam could want with that kind of weaponry and machine parts and he didn't care. He was gonna be rich. 

--------------------------------------------------- 

Ness and the others had been searching for an hour when they found Poo. 

Each one of them had split up like Paula planned. Ness took the side of the river that was over the bridge and Paula took the hills. Jeff had been searching his side of the river uneventfully until he saw the white scraps of cloth gently floating down the river. He followed them upstream until he found Poo. Half of his body was out of the water and laying on the grass. His body looked horribly bruised and a good portion of his bones looked broken. Jeff ran over to him and put his hand near his mouth to check for air. 

"Still breathing, thank God! **NESS, PAULA! I FOUND HIM!**" 

Within moments a worried Ness and Paula came running over to where Jeff was kneeling over Poo's unconcious body. Ness ran toward him but was stopped by Jeff, "Don't move him! Try and heal him first, we don't want to break anything else!" 

Ness bent over Poo and concentrated. A yellow light enveloped Poo's body and the three concious heroes flinched as they heard Poo's bones cracking and repairing themselves at an extremly accelarated rate. "There," said Ness after the light faded, "that's the best I can do. A good nights sleep at a hospital and he should be fine. Let's take him back to Twoson, I'm afraid that he might not be able to handle the teleportation process in this condition so we'll have to walk. Jeff," he bent down and grabbed Poo's legs, "help me carry him please." 

Jeff lunged forward suddenly and shoved Ness back a few feet. Jeff screamed in pain as a throwing knife embedded itself into his right arm just below the shoulder. 

"Jeff! Are you okay? Who did that?" Said Paula as she rushed toward him. 

Jeff shakily pointed over to a nearby tree, "O-over there!" 

Paula held out her hands and two fireballs flew out and connected with the tree, setting on fire. A young boy who looked similar to Poo fell out holding a large scyth, "I was hoping that you wouldn't find him yet. I didn't want a confrontation." He said in a sad voice. 

"Who are you!?" Yelled Ness angrily, taking out his bat. 

"My name is Koga. My master in Dallam has sent me here to make sure that Poo is dead. I also have orders to kill you three if the need arises." 

"Who is your master and what happened to Poo in Dallam?!" 

"Poo was shot and thrown off of the side of Dallam. I don't know how he survived the fall but I'm glad he did. He has a chance to be saved now." 

"Answer my other question!" 

"I'm sorry, but I've been told not to give out that information." He spun his scyth above his head and then set it into a fighting pose, "Forgive me, but I have no alternative." 

With blinding speed he charged at Ness. Quickly Ness put up a shield and the scyth bounced backwards causing Koga to temporarily lose balance. Ness turned off the shield and smashed Koga in the stomach with his Gutsy Bat. He coughed in pain and quickly countered with a swift uppercut to Ness' jaw. Ness flew upwards and then landed back onto the ground, stunned. 

Jeff pulled out his rapid fire laser with his good arm and pulled the trigger. Laser blasts fired out of the metallic weapon at an uncountable rate. Koga glanced at the oncoming blasts and quickly flipped backwards and safely out of their range. As he did, Paula pointed her index and middle fingers where he was going to land and let loose a string of psycic ice as soon as his feet touched the ground. He quickly turned and placed his scyth out infront of him and began to to twirl it at an icreadable rate. The psycic blast hit the twirling shield and bounced away harmlessly, freezing a nearby rock. Ness suddenly jumped up behind Koga and lunged at him with his bat above his head. 

Koga quickly stiffened his right arm and a small throwing star slid out from under his sleave and into his open hand. He flicked his wrist with an almost unseeable speed and Ness was stopped mid-air as the throwing star embedded itself into his left shoulder. Koga rushed at the downed Ness and raised his scyth above his head to strike the final blow. He screamed in pain suddenly and fell to his knees. With Koga on the ground Ness could see Jeff standing with the mouth of his laser lazily sending curls of smoke into the air from the recent firing. Koga turned swifly on his knees only to be met with Paula's frying pan flying at his face. He quickly stuck his arm out in a block and surrounded it with a psycic shield. Paula stumbled backwards as the blow was deflected and Koga quickly jumped up and flipped backwards, landing next to a high rock wall. 

He spun the scyth into a fighting stance once again and faced his opponents. Silence fell over the combatants as the stared each other down, trying to determine the best course of action. Suddenly the sky above them darkend and a loud crack and flash echoed through the air. The wall above Koga split and crumbled. He looked up in dismay as the rocks bore down upon him. After a few moments it was over. The dust settled and only a pile of rocks stood where Koga had once been visable. The three chosen ones looked over to see Poo wearily supporting himself with one hand, the other hand held out in the direction of the former rock wall, his fingers formed in the symbol for PSI Lightning Omega. He gave them a quick smile and passed out. 

Ness pulled the star out of his shoulder with a cringe and healed himself. He then walked over to Jeff and placed his hands on the knife, "Now hold still, this **will** hurt." He tightened his grip and quickly yanked the knife out. Jeff gave a quick scream and then let Ness heal him. 

Paula turned to the others, "We should get Poo and get out of here. I don't want to be around here if that guy gets out from under that pile, whoever he is..." 

"He appeared to know Poo somehow," stated Jeff, "let's get him to the nearest hopital and ask him about it when he's more up to it." 

"Let's get back to Twoson then," began Ness as he lifted Poo onto his shoulder with a grunt, "Mrs. Polestar can let us stay at the preschool for awhile while Poo heals." 

With that final statement, the trio began to take their injured comrad back to Twoson. 

---------------------------------------------------- 

The group had been gone for five minutes when Koga pushed his hand through the pile of rubble and crawled out. He quickly got to his knees and put his hand to his ears, "Master, I'm sorry, they got away." 

The fat pig that called itself Pokey answered back through the earpiece, "That's a real shame there Koga. But maybe you weren't trying as hard as you should have like we agreed eh?" 

"No! I tried, really! They caught me off gaurd!" Pokey only giggled. 

"You fat pig! If you harm her I'll ki-" 

The abomination mearly snorted at this. Actually snorted! "You'll do what Koga? You know you'd sooner end you own life long before you'd be able to end mine if anything happened to her because of something you did, or in this case, failed to do." 

Tears began to stream down Koga's face, "Don't you **dare** do anything yet! I can still kill them! Give me another chance!" 

"Don't worry my friend. I just wanted to remind you of the condition you're in. You obviously can't beat all of them at once anyways. Especially now that Poo's going to be healed. Why don't you head on back home. We'll have to take them out seperatly. The third member of our little crew will be showing his face shortly." 

"Understood...master." 

---------------------------------------------------- 

It wasn't possible. That was all that the Paula, Jeff, Ness, and the half-concious Poo could think as they stepped out of the cave. The entire town of Twoson was in flames. 


	5. Goodbye Blue Sky

**EarthBound 200X Ch. 4: Goodbye Blue Sky**

By Flying Zamboni 2 

The silence was the second thing that the Chosen Four noticed when they'd entered Twoson that sunny morning. The first was the flames that rose out of the buildings and homes and choked the sky with black smoke. At first the four walked through the town in a daze, not believing that any of this could be happening. It seemed that every building was ablaze but that wasn't what made everything seem like some horrible nightmare. What was really unusual was the silence that had befallen the town. Not once did they hear a person scream or see a person running from a building, it was as if the entire town was dead. 

Paula suddenly thought of her parents and ran full speed toward her house. The others saw where she was running and followed her, finally regaining their senses. When they caught up with her they found her standing silently at her burning home. Ness put down the half-conscious Poo and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Paula...I..." 

"The hospital!" She said suddenly with a faint glimmer of hope. 

"What?" 

"My parents are at the hospital. Mom just told me. She told me telepathically." 

"Paula, I know how you must feel but your mother can't use telepathy and I can see smoke from where the hospital is." 

"It might be another building! And you don't know for sure that she can't use telepathy!" She yelled at him angrily. 

Ness reached forward and grabbed her shoulders, "Paula! You're not thinking straight! This is probably a trap set up by whoever sent that Koga guy!" 

She smacked him hard and he loosened his grip in surprise, "I don't care! If they're still alive I'm going to help them!" 

She tore free from him and ran off in the direction of the hospital. Ness started after her and then stopped. He turned to Jeff, "Jeff, stay here and watch Poo, if I don't make it back then run to Onett!" 

"But Ness-" 

"Do it!" He ran off. 

--------------------------------------------- 

Paula stood in tears in front of the burning hospital. She was unaware of Ness running up to her yelling for her to watch out. She was unaware of the laughing man that stood on the hospital roof aiming a gun at her. She was only aware of the horrible feeling of lost hope that occurs after you realize that there is nothing you can do to make the current situation any better. 

Ness dove at Paula and tackled her out of the way of the man's bullet. She regained her senses and looked up angrily at the mysterious sniper. Who she saw standing on the roof of the burning building made her utter one word, "No." 

The man was wearing a large pair of sunglasses and a bowler cap along with a stylish black suit. Small strands of blonde hair could be seen coming out from under the rim of his hat. 

"No..." she repeated, "It can't be you. Shouldn't be you. We let you in! We let you walk by us near the cave! This can't be happening!" 

The man gave an eerily charming grin and spoke in a friendly tone, "I'm afraid that this is happening Miss Polestar, sorry that you couldn't have seen what you caused yourself. It was magnificent. However it is indeed good to see you again I must say." 

Ness screamed angrily, "Who are you!?" 

The man gave an amused chuckle that in any other situation would have sounded calming and reassuring, "You really don't recognize me? Do these sunglasses really work that well? Well I guess now I see what Clark Kent sees in them." Insane laughing this time, "Well maybe this will refresh your memory!" He threw off the sunglasses, revealing his horrible yellow eyes and gave an enthusiastic thumbs up, "Cain at your service!" 

Paula glared at him angrily, "You!" 

"Hideho good neighbor. I-" He was interrupted by the sound of coughing behind him. He slapped his forehead, "Oh that's right! I almost forgot, how silly of me! Your parents put up a pretty good fight for being so caught off guard like they were. I'll be honest with you and say that your father died trying to protect your mother. Well that kind of family unity just chokes me up inside and I felt obligated to spare the good widow." He turned away for a moment and bent over. A choking sound was heard and he turned back around with Mrs. Polestar's neck in his right hand. He stepped forward and held her over the edge of the hospital's roof. 

Paula began to run forward screaming in both anger and terror. Cain raised his free hand impatiently, "Hup-hup-hup! Not so fast! You'll get her back if you meet a few simple demands." 

"You sick freak!" Ness shouted. 

Paula spoke, sounding very weary, "What do you want?" 

"Simple, I want you to-" He let go of her neck suddenly and laughed insanely as she fell to the ground below. The moment seemed to go in slow motion for Paula. She tried to stop the fall with her PSI, but found that Cain had put a psychic shield around the falling woman. She could suddenly see everything with sickening clarity. She saw the tears in her mother's eyes, she saw Cain's sickening grin and heard his horrifying laugh. She heard her mother give one last cough as she hit the ground. 

Cain threw his hands up in a "whoops" gesture, "Ooopsie-daisy. Just call me mister butterfingers!" He laughed again. 

Paula furiously looked at him, tears of anger and sorrow streaming from her eyes, "SHUT UP!" Her pupils dilated furiously and she screamed at the laughing man with insane anger. 

Chunks of cement began to tear themselves loose from the already flimsy burning building as if they were being pulled by some invisible force. Cracks appeared in the roof below Cain's feet. His eyes widened in surprise as it gave way beneath him and he fell into the flames below. Paula screamed again and ran full speed into the burning hospital. Ness, having been too shocked to do anything for quite some time, ran in after her. 

----------------------------------------------- 

Ness ran into the building only a few feet behind Paula. 

"Paula wait!" He coughed through the smoke. 

But she was too angry to listen to him, "WHERE IS HE?! I'LL KILL HIM!" Some of the above floor gave way and fell directly at them. Ness jumped back and the large pile of former floor and wall separated him from Paula. Paula, meanwhile, psychically pushed the falling debris away from herself without even glancing back at Ness. She continued to charge forward and hurled herself through some double doors and into a burning room with a clear area in the middle where no fire was. She wasn't surprised to see Cain sitting on the floor wearily rubbing his head. She looked up and smiled when she saw that he had gone through every floor on his way down. He may have been able to soften his fall, but his luck wouldn't last much longer if Paula had anything to say about it. 

She charged at him and caught him off guard, hitting him in the side of the face with her frying pan as hard has she could. He screamed in pain and fell over. She jumped on top of him and hit him again with the pan, this time in the nose. He clutched his nose in agony and then sent Paula backwards with a psychic shove. She got up quickly and fired Freeze Omega at him. He smiled and held out his hand, absorbing the blast. Paula's eyes grew wide with shock. 

Cain laughed again, "Did you really think the end would come so easily? I am the most powerful psychic in the universe! I have the power of the Devil's Machine in me! Do you understand? Let me show you!" He stretched his arms out to his sides and the flames licking the walls jumped off and began to swirl around him. He laughed again and fired the flames at Paula. She quickly put up a shield and blocked the powerful fire blasts the best she could. After six jets of flames the shield broke and the next flame hit her left shoulder. She put the ensuing fire out with Freeze before any major burn could be inflicted. She fired off another blast of Freeze at Cain but it was negated by one of the swirling bits of fire. Cain's eyes glowed red and the ground began to shake. The ceiling above Paula gave way suddenly and chunk of wood hit her in the back, sending her to the floor. 

Cain's grin grew wider as he began to levitate and the shaking began to get worse. The building itself finally began to give way and Cain's grin became laughter. Ness burst into the room suddenly and he quickly used Flash Omega. The shaking stopped and Cain's feet went back to the floor. He clutched his eyes, "I can't see! You insignificant piece of trash! I'll kill you!" 

Cain swung his arm wildly through the air and sent a powerful psychic blast blindly at a wall. The wall exploded and the building began to fall once again. Ness quickly helped Paula up and blasted a hole through the wall with Rockin' Omega. The two jumped out of the building just as it gave way completely and collapsed in on itself. 

Ness gave a sigh of relief and hugged Paula. She began to sob into his shoulder and Ness did the same. Jeff was supporting Poo on his shoulder and was walking up to the two slowly. In the distance the sirens of fire trucks from both Onett and Threed could be heard in the streets. 

If any of them had looked over, they would have seen that there was no trace of Cain in the debris of the former hospital. 


	6. Angels and Demons

**EarthBound 200X Ch. 5: Angels and Demons**

The town of Twoson was in ruins after Cain's insane rampage. One hundred and twelve people survived the fires; most notable among these was Everdred, Apple Kid, and Orange Kid. Many funerals were held the next four days. Most were informal memorials held in shelters by family members of the deceased, but a select few were held in the Onett church and cemetery. Paula's parents were one of them. She had insisted against it but the townspeople had said that it was least they could do for her after she saved them from Cain.

It was the day of the funeral and Ness and Paula were on their way back to Twoson in order to find a family picture to put on top of the caskets. Ness had suggested that they send somebody else to do it, but Paula insisted that this was something that she'd have to face eventually. They arrived at the charred ruins of Polestar Preschool. The noise of reconstruction crews from as far as Winters could be heard all around. Paula walked up to the front door solemnly with Ness close behind her. She gently walked through the charred door and was instantly hit with a flood of memories.

She was suddenly back eight years ago at Christmas sitting on the living room couch with her mother and father wearing her new pink bow and petting a small kitten with a red bow comically tied around its head. It purred happily as Paula said, "This is the best present ever! I love you mom and dad!"

Her father looked at her with loving eyes filled with the kind of happiness one can only find by seeing a child happy and said, "What are you going to name him?"

But no, that time had passed now. She moved on. She was in the school room now. She could see the children laughing and eating during lunchtime while her mother stood by the blackboard. Smiling.

The time was gone now too. She was in the kitchen now; her father was bent over and pulling something out of the oven. He stood up and turned around revealing an apple pie. Her favorite.

She was at the foot of the charred stairs now. Ness was standing beside her silently, staring up into the darkened second floor, "Are you sure you want to go up there alone? The floor isn't in very good condition."

"I'm sure. I need some alone time." She looked at him briefly and smiled for a moment. She let out a sigh and carefully walked up the stairs and into her parent's bedroom.

She was four and it was night. The door opened with a slight creak and the outline of her father could be seen shooting upright in the bed that looked about twenty feet wide to her four year old eyes. Paula ran over to him crying. Her mother was up now too and they were both hugging her and making calming "shhh" noises.

"What's wrong dear?" Her mother said quietly.

"I-I had a dream where I woke up and you guys weren't here!" She broke out into sobs again.

"Shhh," Her mother began to stroke her hair reassuringly, "It's okay honey. We'll be here for a long, long, time. Everything will be alright."

"A-Are you s-sure?"

"We promise."

Tears were forming in Paula's eyes now as she kneeled next to the burnt bed and picked up a slightly charred picture of her mother and father standing on the front lawn holding the cat and smiling. The tears began to flow freely and she broke out into sobs.

Four minutes later Ness came into the room and walked over to her. He knelt down next to her and hugged her, "Shhh, everything will be alright."

"T-They can't be gone. They said they'd never leave me..."

"Shhh. It's alright, I'm still here Paula. I won't leave you."

They left the house five minutes later with the picture in hand. When they arrived back to Onett, they started the funeral. Ness sat next to Paula who was next to Jeff. Poo sat on the end of the pew, now fully healed after a nights rest at the hospital and staring at the large stain glass windows. They were all dressed in black and Poo had put ceremonial golden tassels on the hilt of his sword.

Looking around the large church, Ness saw that nearly all of the surviving Twosonites and even a few people from Onnet and Threed had come to pay their respects. Ness noticed Everdred and a few of the remaining Twoson police force in formal police attire sitting in the back pew. The organ stopped playing its dirge and an old priest in a long white and red robe walked over to the pulpit and cleared his throat, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to remember the passing of two of the greatest and kindest people in all of Twoson. Anna Maria Polestar and Richard Dean Pol-"

The heavy wooden doors of the church flew open and all eyes turned to see the tall silhouette of a man walking into the church. A familiar chuckle could be heard as the glare faded and Cain's smiling face could be seen. Everdred's eyes grew wide and he bolted out of the front doors just as they slammed shut. Jeff stood up and quickly drew his gun and fired a blast at Cain, only to have it bounce off of an invisible psychic shield.

"Awww," Cain began in a tone of mock-sadness, "Did the funeral start without me? I was just passing through the neighborhood and I says to myself, 'Cain,' I says, 'Golly gee wiz, you should pay your respects to that nice Polestar girl!' So that's just what I did!"

He turned and faced Paula, now standing and shaking uncontrollably while tears of anger rolled down her face. Cain opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by the voice of an old man, "GET OUT!" Cain turned to see that the priest had gotten down from the pulpit and was walking towards Cain at a surprising speed for someone of his age, "GET OUT! YOU ARE NOT WELCOMED HERE! THIS IS THE HOUSE OF GOD! THESE PEOPLE HAVE DONE NOTHING TO YOU! RETURN TO HELL WHERE YOU BELONG! GET OU-"

Cain made a swift motion with his hand and the priest's head flew back as if he'd been struck with something. When he brought it back up his nose and mouth were covered by a solid plate of ice. He clawed at it for a moment and eventually fell onto his knees, struggling for breath.

"Put a cork in it father. Take a chill pill man. Cool off." Cain began to laugh while everyone else looked on in horror. Poo jumped from his seat and landed next to the struggling priest. With a swift strike the ice split in two and fell off.

Cain's laughing began to subside and he began to look around the room with his arms outstretched, "Nothing? Come on folks! 'Cool off?' it's called a pun! You people have no sense of humor." He turned toward Paula, still unable to do anything but stare with hatred, "What's wrong Miss Polestar? Why the long face?"

She screamed and shot a blast of fire at him. He smiled and snapped his fingers, sending a blast of ice and canceling it out. A few of the other mourners began to panic and they fled the church screaming. Ness stood up and used Flash. A blinding ray of light made direct contact with Cain's eyes. He shot his hands up to his face and hunched over screaming, "My eyes! I can't see!"

Poo took this opportunity to draw his sword and charge at him. He got two feet away when Cain suddenly produced a gun and pointed it directly between Poo's eyes. Cain smiled, "Just kidding. That little flashbulb of yours won't work on me again. I've adapted." His grin widened and Poo stared down the barrel with an expression of cold defiance. Jeff fired his laser and a purple beam shot the gun out of Cain's hands. Cain grunted and waved his hand at Poo. Poo was psychically lifted into the air and twirled above Cain's head once before being flung at Jeff. Both were sent crashing into the pews. Paula raised her arms to her sides and two pews ripped themselves from the floor and hurled toward Cain. He leered at them and they shattered against his shield. Ness shot a blast of Rockin' at him and the force merely pushed Cain, safely enclosed in his shield, back a few feet.

Paula's extended hands seemed to erupt into a mixture of fire and ice. She launched the entwined forces and Cain only smiled as they connected with his shield. The shield began to crack and his smile turned to a look of confusion. Poo and Jeff stood up and fired Starstorm and laser blasts respectively. Ness let loose a steady stream of PSI Rockin' and turned his head toward the crowd gathered along the wall, "Get out now! Run!" They did.

Cain screamed in frustration and his shield shattered, sending all four forces colliding into his body at once. He let out a pained shriek as he fell to the ground, tendrils of smoke rose from his clothes. Paula gave what could best be described as a war cry as she charged at the fallen psychic. She swiftly kicked him in his side and then grabbed him by the collar, hoisted him up to her eye level and began to punch him in the face. Tears of rage began to run down her face and she continued until Cain's eyes shot open. He screamed, half in anger and half in pain, and psychically sent Paula flying across the room. His shield regenerated and he levitated up to the ceiling. He punched his fist straight up into thin air and the roof of the church tore itself free and shot into the sky. He opened his fist and it stopped, levitated in mid-air. Cain grinned insanely and clapped his hands above his head; the former roof shattered and became many small chunks suspended in mid-air. He snapped his fingers and the debris began to fall.

At this moment Everdred kicked open the doors of the church and stormed in wielding a large shotgun taken from his police car. He pumped it and fired at Cain. The shotgun pellets stopped at the shield and fell to the ground harmlessly. Cain spun around quickly and fired his small pistol randomly at the bold police captain. Everdred spun backwards and fell to the ground, clutching his right shoulder.

"Really," began Cain, "What exactly _did_ you hope to accomplish? I can't see how you thought that would sto-" He turned to the falling debris only to notice that Everdred's intervention had given Paula enough time to take control of it and send all of the chunks of ceiling directly at him, "Well that's no good." His shield withstood most of the falling concrete but it broke eventually, sending him into the ground. After the dust cleared Cain was gone.

"NO!" Paula began to scream at the nothingness, "He got away again! How dare he show up here!" She fell to he knees and stared at the remains of the church, shuddered in anger, and then collapsed.

"Paula!" Ness shouted as he ran over to her, "She must have fainted from the mental strain of fighting Cain..."

Poo sighed with relief and silently walked over to Everdred and knelt beside him, "How is it?"

Everdred grunted a little as he spoke, "Well my shoulder's been better I have to say."

Poo smiled a little and then held out his hands over the bullet wound, "Hold still as best you can, this will hurt but it'll save you some hospital bills."

His hands began to glow yellow and Everdred gritted his teeth and began to grunt in pain. The bullet began to push itself out of the wound and the wound itself healed behind it. After a moment the small metal pellet clanged on the ground and Everdred stared at his shoulder amazed.

Meanwhile Jeff was kneeling over the last area that he'd last seen Cain standing, "Amazing, there's scorch marks everywhere around here, he must be using some powerful form of teleportation that doesn't require movement. But where did he get so powerful so fast? The only time we've ever faced a shield that strong was against Giygas. What is going on?"

In one of the many hills of Onett, Cain sat nursing his many wounds.

"Stupid kids, I'll get them for this. But what else can I do to torment her? I've already destroyed Twoson and ruined her chance of making peace at her parent's funeral... THE BOY!" He stood up quickly, "I'll kill the one in the red hat! Oh this should be fun!"

"Not now." Cain turned quickly and drew his gun, pointing at the source of the mysterious voice at the mouth of the cave. He sighed with relief and put the gun away when he saw that it was Koga.

"Oho? So what does my mysterious benefactor want with me?" Cain asked in a bemused tone.

A look of disgust crossed over Koga's face as he spoke, "Make no mistake Monster, I'm not doing this for you or my master's benefit. He sent me to tell you that you are to render your services unto him from this moment forward. He says that you are not yet strong enough to do what he intends of you to your fullest ability."

"And if I refuse?"

Koga pulled out the small device that looked exactly like the one that Cain had used to gain his powers. He pressed the red button and a yellow light enveloped Cain. He clutched his sides in pain and began to scream in pain. After a few moments of this, Koga, against his better judgment, pressed the button again and the light faded into nothing and Cain's pain stopped. He lay on the ground, covered in sweat and panting.

"That," Koga began, "was all of your body being torn apart by the very device that gave you your abilities. I was told to lie to you about the number of remaining pieces of the Devil's Machine when we first met. This part does the opposite of what the other one did. Instead of giving power, it takes it and stores it. Another five minutes and your essence would have been in this small machine, ready to be given to someone my master deemed more able to follow orders."

Cain coughed and then spoke, "That's a cruel way to do business."

"Cruel is all my master is..."

"Well, I guess I can't fight him for now," Cain paused as he shakily stood up, "what does he want me to do?"

"Simply put, he wants you to lead the invasion force."


	7. Patriot

**EarthBound 200X Ch. 6: Patriot**

On top of a small plateu near the castle of Dalaam sits the small and humble building that houses the king's Royal Guard. Late on the night that the Chosen Four were nursing the wounds given to them by Cain in their most recent encounter, the Captain of the Guard, Agraj, slept peacfully in his chamber. 

Suddenly a tall Dalaamese man burst through his door. Agraj shot up in his bed and the intruder instantly got onto his knees and bowed. 

The Captain spoke, "Rashal? What are you doing in here at this late hour?" 

Rashal spoke from his bowed position, "Sir, the night watch has spotted the lights coming out of the eastern cave again." 

Agraj sighed, "I've told you the last four times that this happened not to worry about it." 

Rashal looked up, "But sir, shouldn't we at least look into it? A recurring incident such as this is cause for suspicion." 

A brief look of annoyance crept into the Captain of the Guard's voice, "It is most likely nothing! It is probably just some average peasant doing something equally average in an even more average cave! Let it be!" 

Now it was Rashal's turn to be annoyed. He stood up and spoke, "With all due respect sir, it is in the best intrest of our king to investigate any and all suspicious activity that could be detrimental to the future of the country! As the second in command I should not have to be telling this to my captain!" 

Anger falshed across Agraj's face, "Very well, assemble the rest of the Royal Guard. Leave me now while I change into my armor." 

Rashal bowed again and turned to leave when the Captain spoke, "Oh, and Rashal?" 

Rashal turned, "Yes sir?" 

"Might I remind you to remember your place in the future." 

"...Yes my Captain." 

Ten minutes later all ten members of the Royal Guard and the Captain had assembled outside of the eastern cave. All of them wore gleaming steel armor plated with gold and carried tall spears and two katanas at their sides. Agraj himself wore similar armor but had a glistening ruby embedded into the forehead of his helmet. The group of eleven highly trained bodyguards marched silently into the eastern cave. A pale white light emitted from somewhere far into the cave. 

Eventually they came to a sharp turn and Rashal signalled for them to stop, "Allright, we've come this far uneventfully, but that might all change once we turn this corner. I doubt that it's anything important, but prepare yourselves just in case." 

Agraj gave the signal and the group silently turned the corner. Agraj was met with the point of a large scyth an inch away from his throat. 

Shocked, he looked at his assailent and his eyes widened in surprise, "K-Koga! Where have you been all these years?" 

A child's voice came from the distance,"You don't have to answer that Koga. Now is not the time." 

For the first time since turning the corner, Agraj looked up at what lay ahead of him. The only thing he could do was gasp. What had once been a small cave had been expanded into a gigantic cavern. Conveyer belts and strange machinery with logos from every major robotics corporation were everywhere. Standing in front of one of these machines was a small, fat, blonde haired boy and a tall yet sharply dressed man. 

Agraj managed a small, "What is this?" 

The fat boy looked at him and smiled, "This," he motioned around him, "is the factory that will create the invasion force of Dalaam!" 

As if to emphasise this point, the sharply dressed man threw a lever on the machine behind him. It began to make whirring and hissing noises while large pistons quickly moved up and down. Clear rubber tunbing showed metal pumping into the complex machine. After a moment, the conveyor belt began to move and out of the inky blackness of the machine's innards rolled a gleaming silver figure. It's two legs formed into two feet that ended with a sharp point. Attached to the smooth torso were two tentacled arms that ended in even sharper points. It's head was nothing more than a round bump with a visor as black and emotionless as a moonless night. It's body was smooth and featurless, save for the strange geometric insignia stamped onto its chest. The black visor flipped open to reveal intricate circitry. A robotic arm attached to the conveyor belt whirred down into the silver robot's exposed head and made a spark upon its connection. The arm retracted and the visor flipped shut. 

The robot made a long whirring sound and then finally a click. Much to Agraj's further shock, it sat up, walked over to the fat boy, and kneeled. It then spoke in a hollow metallic voice, "All hail," another click, "Master Pokey." 

Pokey turned to Agraj, "You see, I've been paying every robotics corporation I could get into contact with to lend me the parts I needed to make these Starmen. I had to make the first one by hand, but then that one made these machines that mass produce the rest of them." 

Agraj whimpered, "'Rest of them?'" 

"Oh, how silly of me to forget." Pokey turned to the sharply dressed man, "Cain, hit the lights." 

Cain walked over to a nearby switch and flipped it. To the left, a previously dark section of the cave lit up and revealed row after row of hundreds of gleaming Starmen. 

Pokey spoke again, "And the great thing about these things is that they don't need transport ships to get to the surface, they can teleport! Isn't alien technology neat?" 

Agraj finally began to regain his senses, "Wait! Where did you get the money to do this?" 

"The king gave it to me." 

"That's absurd! The king would never approve of the building of an invasion force! For that matter, who are you? I've never seen you anywhere in the castle, much less near the king!" 

"I am Pokey Minch, former minion of Giygas, King of Dalaam, and future ruler of this world! What's it to you Pig's Butt?" 

"King of Dalaam?" 

"Watch this stupid!" Pokey pulled out a small device and pushed a button on it. For a moment his appearance shimmered and then changed into that of the king. 

Agraj became infuriated, "I understand now! You killed Prince Poo and his real advisor and then took his place!" 

Cain spoke for the first time since Agraj's arrival, "Wow, you're a regular detective extrodinair aren't you?" 

"I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS! You might have my neck at scyth point, but my team is still free!" Agraj snapped his fingers and the rest of the guard calmly stepped forward, "Kill the usurper!" 

They didn't move. 

Agraj spoke again, angrily, "Didn't you hear me? Put a stop to this madness! KILL!" 

Rashal stepped forward and stood next to Pokey, his hands on his two katanas at his sides, "We won't take orders from you anymore. I'm taking control of the Guard from now on." He snapped his fingers and the other nine members of the Royal Guard stepped forward and stood at attention next to Rashal. 

Agraj said in a shocked voice, "You had this planned the whole time didn't you Rashal? Then why even take me to this cave? Why not just kill me in my sleep?" 

"It was a test. Originally, the plan was to offer you a choice, join Pokey, or die. But I wanted to see if you were even worthy of being leader of the Guard. And after not coming to investigate this cave from sheer laziness and then walking into an obvious trap, I have found you unfit to continue serving the throne." 

Agraj was angry now, "HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME OF BETRAYING THE THRONE!" He quickly batted away Koga's scyth and charge at Rashal with spear at the ready before Koga could do anything. He swung the spear at his former second in command only to hit air as Rashal rolled under the blow and stood up behind him. Rashal drew his twin katanas and stabbed at Agraj. The Captain of the Guard quickly swung his spear behind him and deflected the blow while turning around. While Rashal was off balance, Agraj quickly thrust his spaer at him. He responded by jumping lightly into the air and landing on the flat side of the spear. Rashal jumped again and delivered a spinning kick to the side of Agraj's head. Agraj flew into the ground and accidentaly threw his spear a few feet away. The Captain stood up just in time to see Rashal swinging one of his katanas at him. He jumped back and avoided it but was caught off guard when Rashal swung his second katana and cut through his armour and across his stomach. Pokey snorted with laughter at this. 

Rashal neared him and raised both of his katanas above his head to deliver the killing blow. Agraj rolled away at the last second and wearily stood up. He looked to his right and saw the entrance to another tunnel. Clutching his stomach he darted off and into the dark tunnel. 

Pokey turned to Koga, "Go after him. We don't want that pig's butt to blab." 

Rashal stepped forward and bowed, "No Master, please let me go after him." 

Pokey smiled a little, "Fine I guess you've got a grudge with him huh? Well I know what that's like. Go ahead, and be quick about it." 

Agraj stumbled through the dim tunnel towards an unkown destination. His left arm was wrapped around his bleeding stomach and the right was supporting him against the rocky wall as he walked. Through his own heavy breathing he heard running footsteps behind him. He stood up straight and quickly concealed a knife in a compartment in his armour's right arm. He'd only have one shot to use it and he had to make sure that he made it count. He turned to face Rashal as he neared him. 

Once Rashal was about ten feet away from Agraj, the second in command jumped forward and landed a few inches from him. He quickly punched the surprised Agraj in the right cheek and sent him sprawling into the ground. 

Agraj looked up angrily at his former comrad, "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? HOW COULD YOU BETRAY THE FORMER KING BY SERVING SOME SPOILED BRAT?" 

Rashal kicked him in his injured stomach and said in a disgusted tone, "Don't speak of the king in such a manner traitor!" 

"You're calling me a traitor! That fat thing want's to rule the earth! Countless innocent people will die in the invasion! Do you think that this is the legacy of Dalaam's old kings?" 

"Yes! Dalaam will no longer sit in the clouds apart from the modern world! We will become one with it and rise to glory! You wouldn't understand. That is why you must die here!" 

Agraj smiled, "No, I don't want to understand that kind of insane logic." As Rashal stepped closer, Agraj pulled the knife and charged at him. Rashal sidestepped and grabbed his outsreatched arm. In one fluid movement he broke Agraj's arm, grabbed the knife as if fell from his hand and thrust it into Agraj's chest, killing him instantly. After the former Captain fell to the ground, Rashal bent down and stole the jewel encrusted helmet of the Captain of the Guard and put it on himself. In that moment, Rashal became the new leader of the new Dalaam Royal Assassin Squad. 


	8. Scythe of the Reaper

**EarthBound 200X Chapter 7: Scythe of the Reaper**

The Chosen Four stepped out of Ness's house at sunrise the following morning. Without saying a word, Paula, Jeff and Poo solemnly nodded to Ness who began to concentrate. The group began to slowly spin in place. The spinning began to increase in intensity until the Chosen Four were nothing more than a blur that promptly teleported away. 

The four reappeared at Dalaam. Ness's eyes began to adjust from the temporary dementia caused by Teleport and he prepared himself for the usual sight of Dalaam's golden palace. He gasped as he looked to see that he was still ten feet from the landmass of Dalaam. Slowly, horribly, he felt himself begin to fall. He looked around to see Jeff, Paula and Poo falling with him. Desperately he reached out for Paula's hand and grasped it. He concentrated and shot forward using Teleport. At an incredible speed he flew at Poo and grabbed his hand who, moments before disappearing with Ness and Paula, grabbed Jeff's hand. 

The four landed in Ness's backyard in a confused pile. Ness was the first to stand up, "Poo, Did you grab Jeff?" 

Poo sat up and wearily stated, "Yes, you cut it a little close though." 

Ness smiled a little, "Well, I was counting on the fact that you're fast enough to grab him." 

Poo let slip a rare smile and Jeff raised one hand into the air and gave a thumbs up. Paula got up and hugged Ness quickly before quietly sitting down again. She hadn't spoken much since the incident in Twoson a few days ago. Ness had tried to convince her to stay behind and rest, but she had only replied, "We're called the Chosen Four for a reason. Besides, mom and dad wouldn't have wanted me to mope around and sit idly by while innocent people need help." 

Jeff sat up finally and glared at Ness, "What happened up there? How could you have missed Dalaam?" 

"I dunno!" Ness replied annoyed, "That's never happened to me before! I'm just as confused as you are!" 

Poo spoke up, "It was a psychic shield. It intercepted us as we came in and sent us back into the air. It must be around the whole island. Nothing will be able to get in there now; I fear that whatever we set out to stop this morning has already been set into motion." 

Jeff looked at the ground sullenly, "Then we're too late. But who could have set up a shield that big?" 

Paula's face contorted with anger and pure hatred as she spat one name, "Cain." 

Ness looked down and spoke quietly, "Yeah, that would make sense; he probably joined up with whoever's causing all of this trouble in Dalaam. That would explain where he disappeared to so quickly." 

Jeff spoke again, "I have the feeling that whoever is behind this also gave Cain his powers. He didn't break out of prison until after this whole mess with Dalaam started." 

Ness slammed his fist onto the ground angrily, "And we're still stuck a step behind whatever's going on! I wanted to stop this today!" He hit the ground again while Paula sat in silence. 

After a long silence, Poo spoke, "I believe that the best course of action is to wait until our unseen opponent makes his move. It pains me to do nothing, but we appear to have no other option. Besides, I must tell you about Koga." 

Ness and the others looked at him, with the events at Twoson Koga's apparent past with Poo had almost completely slipped from their minds. 

Poo continued, "He was, is perhaps still, my friend and the true ruler of Dalaam." 

The others all gasped in surprise at this. Jeff opened his mouth to say something but Poo interrupted him, "I will explain it all, but first let us go inside and sit down, it is a long tale." 

-------------- 

In Ness's living room Jeff, Ness, and Paula sat on a couch facing Poo, seated in an armchair. 

Poo let out a sigh and began to speak, "Some of this tale has been told to me by others while some of it I witnessed myself. To begin, let us go back some eighteen years ago to the Dalaam Palace..." 

------------- 

Late one night in the Dalaam Palace sat King Leo and his sons. He was forty years old with long salt and pepper hair and slat gray eyes that were unusual for a Dalaameese man. He wore a crimson robe and on his head was the magnificent jade crown of the Dalaam Royal Family. On the throne beside him sat his fourteen year old son, Prince Halibur, dressed in a blue robe, his hair in the traditional ponytail. Sitting in Halibur's lap was the king's youngest son, Koga, only two years old. And finally, in a small crib in a private room lay the king's one year old daughter, Kara. 

Before the king and his sons at this moment lay Renault, the king's advisor. He wore a regal suit of armor colored in splotches of blue and emerald. Behind him flowed a brilliant emerald cape and in his arms was a tiny newborn boy. 

After a moment, Renault spoke, "Your majesty, this child's mother died giving birth to this boy this evening." 

The king gazed at Renault for a moment before speaking, "I see, and who was this woman?" 

"Her name was Rose Miyako she was a loyal servant in this palace for ten years." 

"And what do you intend to do with this child?" 

"He has no living relatives sire, and I've always wanted a son so I th-" 

Leo glared at him sharply and spoke sternly, "And you intended to adopt him as your own and allow a servant's child into the royal court of Dalaam!" 

Renault returned Leo's sharp glare, "Yes m'lord. Do I have your permission?" 

Leo glared at him a moment longer and then broke into a broad, friendly grin and finally a warm and musical laugh, "Of course you do old friend! You've always been such a kind person. I'll gladly welcome the boy into the castle! What is the little fellow's name?" 

Renault smiled as he said, "Before she died, Rose said that his name was Poo." 

"A fine name! He shall be treated as if he were of royal blood. I shall have his room prepared right next to yours Renault. Now," said the king as he arose from his throne, "it is getting late and I believe we would all like to go to bed, I will have a servant bring a crib to your room at once Renault. Enjoy fatherhood." 

Renault stood up and gave a small bow, "Thank you Leo." 

Minutes later, Renault walked into his dimly lit bedroom and placed Poo into the small crib that the servant had left. He looked down at the sleeping infant and smiled, "You're going to be someone very important one day my son. I can tell already." 

--------------------------------- 

Three years passed. Poo was accepted into Dalaam royalty just as King Leo had promised and the kingdom was at peace, until one fateful night. 

Leo and Renault stood in the dimly lit throne room late one night. Leo stood with his hands clasped behind his back, facing one of Dalaam's most important royal relics. It was a magnificent scythe mounted on the wall behind the throne. Its handle was made of a durable but light metal and its blade was made of the strongest steel. On the broad side of the blade was engraved the royal seal of Dalaam's royal family. It was the Scythe of Kings. Centuries ago the Sword of Kings was lost in a great battle and the Scythe was crafted to replace it. 

After a few moments more of silence, the king spoke, "You said that you wanted to talk to me Renault, it's already late so let's hear it already old friend." 

Renault cleared his throat nervously, "Leo, I've been thinking recently and I think that Dalaam should begin to modernize." 

The king thought for a moment before replying in a friendly tone, "We've had this conversation before Renault, the answer is still no." 

"But why not? The people should not be forced to continue living in such conditions when there exists the things that will make their lives easier! Better ways to prepare food, better medicine and better conditions of living!" 

The king was sterner now, "We have always lived this way Renault. With that technology also comes weaponry and murder and greed. The surface dwellers have had more wars in a decade than we've had in a century. Besides, our doctors are well trained in both the physical and psychic methods of healing." 

"But that doesn't change the fact that the overall standard of living is much poorer compared to other countries such as Eagleland!" 

"My people seem content as they are." 

Renault began to show signs of anger, "Of course they are because you haven't given them a chance to experience anything other than what they have now!" 

The king finally turned from the scythe and to his advisor, "Renault I have always valued your advice and your friendship but on this matter I'm afraid that my word is final!" 

"I will not sit idly by while the people are forced to live in run down shacks because their king is too caught up in tradition to care about them! As long as your blood line is allowed to rule then the people will continue to live in poverty!" 

Silence fell between the two men. Finally, King Leo spoke calmly, "Renault, how long have you been in my service?" 

"Twenty one years Leo." 

"Ah yes, since the very beginning. That's a long time..." Leo turned and gazed once again at the Scythe of Kings. 

"Yeah. All good things must come to an end right?" 

"Right." 

Renault turned his back on the king and started to walk out the door when the kings voice stopped him, "What do you intend to do old friend?" 

"Whatever it takes to see to it that this travesty against the people will no longer continue." 

Leo nodded, "I understand, I'm sorry that it had to turn out this way, may you live a long, healthy life." 

"You're not going to try and stop me from leaving? you know that I intend to overthrow you right?" 

Leo nodded and smiled, "I just don't have it in me to put my best friend in jail." 

Renault sighed, "Your judgment is clouded by your emotions. You and I are so alike. Oh, one more thing, please take care of my son for me, take care of Poo. It's much safer for him here." 

"Understood, he'll become like my third son." 

With that, Renault left the throne room and then left Dalaam for five years. 

--------------------------- 

"Announcing the return of Prince Halibur!" Shouted the stocky man that stood by the door of the throne room. It had been two years since Renault had returned to the kingdom of Dalaam and began to take over the tiny country's land territory by force. 

Prince Halibur, dressed in gleaming blue armor, strode through the doors and approached his father's throne. He gave a swift bow and spoke, "Father, Renault's forces have taken half of the land territory and are trying to advance further. Fortunately General Agraj and I were able to cut off his troops with our own." 

Just outside the throne room's closed doors stood two young boys. Koga, now twelve, had his ear against the doors and was desperately trying to listen to his brother's report while Poo, now ten, stood next to him eagerly. 

"Koga, what are they saying?" Poo whispered. 

"Shh! I can't hear it if you're talking!" 

Suddenly a small voice spoke from behind them, "Hey, didn't father tell you two to stop eavesdropping?" 

The two boys jumped and turned to see the small figure of Kara standing a few feet away. Koga quickly tried to cover up his disobedience, "Erm, we weren't listening in Kara! Honest! We were just, um..." 

"Cleaning the doors!" Interrupted Poo with a pathetic excuse for a lie. 

Kara only sighed, "You know father doesn't want us to have any involvement in the war! I don't want you guys involved in any way" 

Koga looked at his younger sister for a moment before speaking, "I'm sorry Kara I-" 

At this moment, the huge doors behind them groaned open and out came Halibur and King Leo himself. To all three of the children's' surprise, the king was dressed in full crimson battle armor and on his back was strapped the Scythe of Kings. 

Halibur looked down at his three younger siblings and scowled, "Were you little twits eavesdropping again?" 

Leo stepped forward and spoke, "Now, now Halibur, it's all right." He knelt down and looked at his children eye to eye, "I'm sorry children, but I've got to go with Halibur now. We have Renault's troops cornered and Halibur thinks that we can defeat them here and now." 

Kara spoke up, "But father, why do you have to go?" 

"It is the sworn duty of the king to see all matters involving the people through to the end. Do not worry my children, I love you all." 

----------------------------- 

In Dalaam's ground territory there is a valley surrounded by steep hills that level out at the valley's basin to form a large, flat, field. It was in this field that the forces of both Renault and Dalaam were gathering. 

General Agraj stood in front of his troops and surveyed his surroundings with an approving nod, "Perfect. This is a very fitting setting for the end of a war." 

Renault's army was an odd assortment of traditional Dalaameese weapons and modern day technology. Many men held swords and spears while others held pistols and machine guns. Scattered among the many horses were a few run down jeeps. It was in one of these jeeps that Renault sat next to a non-Dalaameese man who was dressed in a flowery t-shirt and shorts, wearing sandals and a pair of cheap sunglasses. 

Renault glanced at him, "The battle is going to start soon. It is very likely that this will be the end, thank you for your services in this war Eddie." 

Eddie grinned, "Hey boss, it's what you pay me for man." 

Renault chuckled, "Even so, your skill in battle is amazing." 

Eddie gave a smile that tried its best to look modest but failed miserably, "They don't call Red Eddie the best in the biz for kicks and giggles baby!" Eddie gave a thumbs up and looked ahead, "Well it looks like that king guy's ready for action. Ciao!" Eddie grabbed two big silver six shooters from the back seat and leap energetically from the car. 

Renault looked at Leo's lined up forces and sighed, "Why did it have to come to this?" 

------------------------------ 

King Leo and Halibur had arrived and now stood next to General Agraj as they faced the remainder of Dalaam's army. The king raised his scythe into the air, "You have all fought well and for a noble cause. You men have all made me honored to be your king. Today will be the end of this civil war, may we ride into glory!" 

The army cheered. Agraj gave the signal to charge. Renault's army prepared themselves for the oncoming wave of soldiers. The end of an age had begun. 

------------------------------ 

Twenty minutes into the battle and Dalaam was winning. Three of Renault's seven machine gun mounted jeeps had been destroyed by a few skilled soldiers' blades. The few men with machine guns were at a constant standstill with the elite Dalaam soldiers able to deflect the bullets. Renault rode in his jeep positioned at the machine gun blasting away advancing troops while his driver swerved to avoid abandoned horses and dead men. Ten yards away sat Leo on his horse, he saw Renault's jeep and kicked his horse into action. He cut a path through the battle until he was positioned directly in front of the oncoming jeep. 

Renault saw him and turned his gun on him as the driver accelerated to a ramming speed. Leo made a swift movement with his hand and threw a knife that popped the front driver's side tire, sending the jeep into a fishtail swerve. The machine gun fired and killed Leo's horse, sending him to the ground. As he rolled out from under the horse, Leo looked up to see that the jeep was still swerving his way. He drew his scythe and stood facing the vehicle like a statue. At the last second Leo dove to the side and made one precise slash at the jeeps hood. Renault leap out of the jeep just as the engine exploded. He landed a few feet away from the wreck and stood facing Leo. 

Without a word, Renault drew his sword and charged. 

Elsewhere, Halibur was cutting his way through the rebel forces with his katana toward where his father and Renault were fighting. Renault's forces knew a losing battle when they saw one and quickly allowed the young prince to pass through the crowd. Eddie saw Halibur nearing the dueling men and fired a warning shot at the prince's feet. Halibur stopped. 

"Whoa there buddy," began Eddie as he calmly aimed his guns at Halibur's head, "let's just chill for a second 'kay?" 

"Let me through and I won't hurt you." 

"Sorry man but the contract I signed with Mr. Renault over there says I'm supposed to protect him. Now don't take offense to this, but you look like the kind of guy that could really do some damage if left alone." 

Halibut smiled, "Don't say I didn't warn you." 

Without another word, he sheathed his katana and charged. Eddie smiled lazily and opened fire on the prince. In what seemed like one move, Halibur stopped, unsheathed his sword and deflected the oncoming bullets. Eddie's grin faded as he heard the familiar clicks indicating that his gun chambers were empty. Halibur resumed his charge as Eddie frantically tried to reload his left gun. He'd only put in one bullet before the angry young prince was upon him. Eddie raised his gun to defend himself. The last thing that he saw was Halibur's blade cutting through the barrel and rushing toward his face. 

While Eddie and Halibur were having their duel, Renault and Leo were already well into theirs. The old king swung his scythe at Renault, who defended with a sideways block with his heavy broadsword. Leo quickly spun and jabbed Renault in the stomach with the butt of the scythe handle. Renault stumbled back and saw Leo spin around and swing his scythe at his head. He ducked and quickly jabbed at the warrior king. Leo jumped back just in time and immediately bounced back at his old friend, spinning the scythe above his head like a helicopter blade. With a mighty swing, Leo embedded the blade into the ground where Renault had stood only moments ago. Leo looked to his left just in time to see Renault land a few feet away from where he originally jumped. With a heave, Renault flung his sword through the air at Leo. Unable to pull the Scythe of Kings out of the ground in time, he was forced to leap away from his weapon. Renault's sword kept going and embedded itself into a nearby rock. The two men stared at each other for a moment. 

Renault charged at Leo suddenly and punched him in his right cheek. As Leo spun to the ground he kicked Renault in the right side of his face. The two opponents got up wearily and charged each other again. Leo leap up at the last second and kicked Renault in the chest. Renault coughed and grabbed Leo's leg. He spun him around in an upwards arch and then slammed him back into the ground. The old king immediately got up again and punched Renault in the stomach hard enough to be felt through his armor. As he doubled over Renault head butted Leo and sent him to his knees. Seeing his opportunity, Renault ran past him and grabbed his sword out of the stone, turned around, and pointed it at Leo's neck. They both froze. 

After a few moments, Renault finally spoke, "Surrender." 

Leo only smiled weakly, "Look around you old friend. My army has already begun to turn your forces back. Dalaam will win." 

Renault looked around; he saw that it was true. He swallowed hard, "Please Leo, surrender. Don't make me do this. Don't force me to kill you." 

Leo sighed, "I'm not forcing you to do anything. You don't have to kill me just because you beat me in our duel. You can always surrender if you do not like the current situation." 

Renault scoffed, "And if I surrender, what then? Just a few days of prison and then execution!" 

"That is what the law dictates in regard to high treason." 

"Then change the law! You're the king!" 

"That would be an abuse of power. I'm sorry." 

"I don't suppose that you'll let me run away will you?" 

"No, I'm sorry; if I let you run then I'd have to abdicate the throne out of shame. As king I must fulfill my duty to my country." 

"I understand. Let's finish it." 

Leo visibly relaxed, "Yes, I'm ready." 

"Everything I've done was for the good of Dalaam..." 

"As did I. Old friend." 

Tears began to stream down Renaults face. With one swift strike it was done. 

Halibur, having just finished off Eddie, looked up and saw it happen. Renault's sword swing, his father's slow fall to the ground. The tears were full force on Renault's face now. He dropped his sword and backed away from the body as if in total disbelief of what he'd just done. 

Halibur's vision turned red. He barreled toward Renault screaming and howling unintelligibly. Renault looked up at the oncoming king with an expression of complete sorrow. With one final look at Leo's body he teleported away just as Halibur reached him. The king fell on his knees and crawled toward his father. He let out a wail that was sounded more animal than human. 

---------------------------------- 

One year passed. General Agraj had rounded up the last of the rebel forces, with the exception of Renault himself, and Halibur had sadly taken on the position of king. So far he was a terrible leader. Consumed by grief and vengeance, the boy placed his throne room deep into the castle and isolated himself from all but his family, even his own advisors were not allowed to enter. The duty of leading the kingdom fell upon Koga, Kara, and the new advisor to the throne, Rowan. 

Kara, Koga, and Poo were seated in a semi-circle at the base of the point of Mu facing the Star Master. 

"And remember," concluded the ageless man, "it is only through our ancestors that we are able to achieve enlightenment. That is one of the founding principles of Mu." 

The three children stood up and bowed to him. It was a bright sunny day, the men and women in the streets on the way back to the palace bowed to them politely; the people knew who really ran their country. 

"Poo, when I become king, I'm going to appoint you as my advisor!" Stated Koga suddenly. 

Poo blushed slightly, "Oh really? Thanks, but I'm no good at politics, I do not think that I could ever properly help run a country." 

Kara slapped Poo on the back, "Quit being so modest! You're better at making decisions that he is!" She pointed her thumb at Koga. 

Koga playfully shoved Kara, "At least I can make a decision. You take an hour to decide how you want to wear your hair in the morning!" 

Kara smiled and opened her mouth to return the playful insult when Poo interrupted the two, "Great Ancestors..." 

Koga and Kara looked at him, "What is it?" 

"Halibur, he's left his chambers." 

The brother and sister looked toward the castle and saw Halibur standing in the doorway talking to General Agraj. 

The three crept closer to the golden doors of the castle and caught the tail end of Agraj's sentence, "...vise you to remain here." 

Halibur quickly reached out and slapped the general in the side of the face, "You dare advise me to do anything! You forget your place Agraj! I'm going and you WILL NOT stop me!" 

Agraj tried his best to keep his anger under control, "Then I insist that you take an escort with you my liege! It's for your own protection!" 

"I don't need your protection! Where were you when my father was being killed? You are clearly incapable of protecting anyone!" 

Agraj's eyes narrowed, "Where was I? Where were you!" 

Halibur's eyes flashed and his nostrils flared, he let out a scram and kicked Agraj in the stomach, "How dare you!" he kicked again, "How dare you!" 

Agraj was curled up on the ground now gasping for breath. Halibur wound his leg back for another kick. The king didn't notice Koga until he had punched him in the right cheek. 

Halibur staggered back and stared at Koga in shock. Kara and Poo were next to him and had their fists risen in case he tried a retaliatory blow. 

Koga reprimanded him as a parent does a child, "What do you think that you are doing?" 

"You heard what he said to me!" 

"I don't care! You insulted him first; honorable men do not treat other people like this!" 

Halibur took a step forward, "What would you know about honor you little idiot!" 

Koga ignored him, "What is it that Agraj doesn't want you to do that is so horrible?" 

Halibur's eyes narrowed, "Renault. They found where he is hiding." 

Koga's look of defiance faded, "What?" 

"They found Renault. I am going to go and kill him." 

Despite his better judgment, Agraj stood up weakly and spoke, "And again I must protest! The man is far too powerful for you! Let us come with you and we can arrest him together!" 

Halibur drew back his hand again but glanced at his younger siblings and thought better of it, "I don't care what you think I should do. This is personal." 

Poo spoke up, "I agree with Agraj, Renault is much too dangerous for you to handle alone!" 

"You shut your mouth! What do you know anyways! You're not even of noble blood!" 

Koga glared at his older brother, "Stop it Halibur!" 

Halibur walked to Poo and grabbed him by the shoulders, "That's right! We told you that you were adopted into this family but we never told you that your mother was just a pitiable servant girl!" 

Poo's eyes widened with shock. Despite this, Halibur continued, "And do you know that Renault was your original adopted father? But apparently he didn't love you enough to stick around!" 

Kara shrieked at him, "Stop now!" 

Halibur let go of Poo and turned on her, "You shut up! It's your fault that mother died! If you hadn't been born then maybe she'd still be around!" 

Koga jumped on him. He drove him to the ground and repeatedly struck him in the head. After the initial shock wore off, Halibur grabbed his younger brother and threw him off. He stood up and wiped off his bloody lip. 

"I'm leaving now. I'm going to go avenge father. If any of you four are still here when I return, I'll have you all executed." 

Without another word, he teleported to Renault's cave. 

--------------------- 

The year since he'd killed his best friend had not been good to Renault. His once noble face was now cracked and unshaven. The cave that he lived in was rodent infested and had a few puddles of standing water. As a result, Renault had developed a hacking cough. 

He sat cross-legged, eyes closed, near the cave's entrance. He was waiting. He knew that the Dalaam soldiers had found his cave and he was preparing for their return. He wasn't preparing to fight them; he was preparing to give himself up. He was tired of hiding. 

There was the familiar "crack" of someone finishing a teleport. He opened his eyes to see Halibur standing in the cave entrance, smiling. The boy drew his sword. 

"Hello Traitor, I'm here to kill you." 

Renault sighed, "I'd rather you arrest me first." 

"Why's that? Afraid of Hell?" 

Renault coughed and shook his head, "No, no. I just want to be taken back to Dalaam. I want to see my country one last time before I die." 

Halibur snarled, leaped over to the sitting man and kicked him. He then bent down, picked him up, and threw him out of the cave. Renault tried to stand but collapsed again in a coughing fit. 

Halibur tried to kick him again but Renault grabbed his foot and pulled him down, causing him to drop his sword. The young man quickly recovered, grabbed his opponents arm and threw him into the cave's outside wall. Renault slid into a sitting position. Halibur picked up his sword and walked toward him, smiling. 

Renault looked past Halibur's head and could just barley make out the shape of Dalaam floating in the distance. In his minds eye he saw the palace. He saw Leo sitting on his throne with his wife standing beside him. 

Tears began to run down the fallen noble's face, "I'm so sorry old friend." 

Halibur swung his sword. 

The last thing that Renault saw was his son. 

Halibur cleaned off his sword blade and spat on the body. He turned to go but was confronted by an old man in ragged clothing with a beard that reached his knees. 

"Star Master what are yo-" He was cut off by a swift punch that sent him into the ground. Halibur looked up at his old mentor, shocked. 

Star Master spoke with a voice filled with anger, "You fool! Did you think that I would not see what you have done?" 

"What business is it of yours?" 

"I have watched over the royal line for generations! Have you forgotten that I am the guardian of the royal house? Did you not think that I would be watching you? I have seen the way you have handled both your enemies and your own family. This manner is unfit for one of my former pupils, let alone a king! I hereby deem you unfit to rule. Your title has been revoked." 

Halibur was up at once, hand on his sword hilt, "How dare you speak to your king that way!" 

Halibur began to pull his sword out of his scabbard but was too slow. In the blink of an eye the Star Master open palm struck his chest and sent him flying back into the cave. Without seeming to move, Star Master appeared in front of Halibur before he could even tell what had happened. The ex-king quickly swung his sword at his former master but only sliced through air as his target leaped back a few feet. 

Halibur stood up and pointed to the body of Renault just outside the cave, "Why do you rebuke me? I killed a traitor!" 

Star Master shook his head, "What that noble man did was what he thought was best for his country. What he did may not have been the best course of action, but he was a good and honorable man nonetheless and he deserved a better death than this. Your father understood that." 

Halibur snarled and screamed in rage. He held out his hands in front of him and they began to glow white. 

Realizing what Halibur was about to do, Star Master began to plead with him, "Wait! Stop! Not in here! It's too dangerous!" 

Halibur laughed, "Yes that's it! Beg for mercy! Grovel before your king!" 

With a deafening roar Halibur's blast of Starstorm Omega flew from his hands and directly toward the ageless figure. Star Master sighed and quickly disappeared in a puff of smoke. The blast hit the cave wall that was behind him instead. The cave began to rumble and huge chunks of the ceiling began to give way. Halibur looked around at the collapsing cave and laughed a madman's laugh as it all came crumbling down around him. 

------------------------------ 

One week since the death of Halibur had passed. Star Master had told them all that had happened and the country was plunged into mourning over such a tragedy. In accordance with Dalaam custom, Koga was in line as the next king, although he would still have the title of prince until he became of age. It was the night before the cerimony that would give Koga the political powers of a king and he was sitting on his bed wide awake with Kara seated next to him. 

There was a knock on the door and Poo entered, "You said that you wanted to see me your majesty?" 

"Please don't call me that." 

Kara looked up at Poo; it was obvious that she had been crying, "Poo, we're leaving." 

Poo's eyes widened with surprise and then he looked at the floor sadly, "Please don't." 

Koga sighed, "I don't want this responsibility yet Poo. I'm no good at making decisions." 

"Stop talking like that! You will make a great leader and you know it!" 

Koga and Kara were silent for a moment. Suddenly, Koga spoke, "I'm afraid. After what happened to father and Halibur, I'm afraid of what might happen to Kara and me." 

Poo considered this for a moment, "I understand Koga. Kara, you feel the same way?" 

Kara nodded, "Koga's all that I've got left." 

"When are you going?" 

Koga stood up, "Now. We just wanted to tell you first." 

Poo suddenly got an idea, "Wait here one second!" 

He quietly left the room for a moment. When he returned he was holding the Scythe of Kings. He handed it to Koga, "Take this, it belongs to you." 

Koga smiled and hugged his friend, "Goodbye Poo." 

"Goodbye." 

Kara did the same and then the two siblings left the room and the country. 

----------------- 

Ness, Paula, and Jeff sat around Poo as if in a trance as he completed his story, "The following morning, the rest of the country discovered that they were gone. Star Master didn't seem too surprised. Very soon afterwards he appointed me as the next heir to the throne, saying that I was a Chosen One. And so, my training for the battle against Giygas began." 

He fell silent. No one spoke for five minutes. Finally, Paula spoke, "Poo, I had no idea." 

Jeff took off his glasses and began cleaning them on his shirt, "I remember reading about a civil war in Dalaam a few years back, but I never imagined..." 

Ness took off his hat and rubbed his head, "The Koga in that story doesn't sound like the type that would side with whoever staged your death." 

Poo shook his head, "He's not that kind of person. I think that someone has Kara." 

Jeff nodded, "Yes that would make sense." 

Ness looked out the window, "If that's the case, then we'll have to find a way to help him." 

"If I could only get him alone and talk too him, I may be able to help him find a way out of this." 

Ness stood up and stretched, "Well I guess that until we get an opportunity to do that, we'll just have to stay here until our mysterious new king in Dalaam makes his move." 

Suddenly, there was a frantic yet familiar knocking on the door. Ness walked over to it and barley opened it before Picky Minch burst into the room. 

He turned to Ness, "Have you been watching the news?" 

The four collectively shook their heads. Picky grabbed the remote and turned on Ness's television. A newswoman stood in front of the Threed Hotel. 

"...for half and hour. The police now believe that there are six criminals and five hostages. The police have been trying to negotiate, but only one response comes back. 'Bring us the Chosen Four.'" 


	9. Keep Yourself Alive

**EarthBound 200X** Chapter Eight: Keep Yourself Alive

By Flying Zamboni 2

While Poo was busy telling the story of his past to his comrades, Francis Labs was busy typing away at his computer and sweating profusly.

Ten murders in five hours. The media had barely been able to keep up with the constant reports. This usually wouldn't have caused Francis any amount of stress, but the victims of these attacks had something in common with him; they were all the presidents of major robotics distributors. The mysterious order for illegal weapons parts that he'd recieved from Dalaam several days earlier was beginning to look more and more like a mistake every time he thought about it. He stopped his typing for a moment and looked up at the eight body guards that he'd been able to hire on such short notice. They all had stern looks on their faces and were pointing their hand guns at the door.

Francis felt slightly comforted and began typing at his computer again. He was browsing through the company database. It was easy to find the record of the legal parts ordered, but the record of the illegal parts was another matter. He'd taken great pains to make sure that all records of his illegal deals were protected by the toughest computer security that he could find. After twenty minutes of furious typing, he was at the fourth to last firewall.

His head shot up, he thought he heard footsteps outside the door.

He decided that it was his imagination and began to enter his password. One down, three to go.

Another sound, this time the guards seemed to have noticed it too. They raised their guns.

Halfway there now. Francis knew that he had to get this list of parts to the public before it was too late. If Dalaam ordered the same type of equipment from the ten other robotics corporations, then they were planning something big.

The footsteps were much louder now. A few of the guards silently moved closer to the door.

Something like war. Only one firewall left.

All at once the footsteps outside the room stopped. The only sound left was the clacking of computer keys.

With a triumphant smile, Francis finished entering the last password. He quickly copied the file and attached it to an email that was to be sent to every major news outlet in the country. He grabbed the mouse and reached for the "send" button.

The power went out. The sound of the door being flung open could be heard through the darkness. The lights suddenly flared back on seconds later.

A tall Dalaamese man in golden armor was crouched on Francis's desk. The man had two katana's drawn and crossed in front of him so that they formed a deadly metal "x" the crux of which was right against the quivering business man's neck. Francis looked at the guards, all of them wavered for a moment and then slumped to the ground, dead. Francis glanced at this computer. His hope was crushed when he saw that the brief cut in the power by his assassins had completely shut down the machine and erased it all.

At last, the assassin spoke, "As captain of the Dalaam Royal Assassin Squad I, Rashal, hearby sentence you to death."

Amazingly enough, Francis was able to speak through his terror, "I give you weapons and technology and this is how you pay me?"

Rashal let out a small laugh, "Oh, you didn't think that we would pay you in gold did you? A country needs money to function Mr. Labs. And besides, you were doing something illegal in selling those weapons to us, in the world that my master plans to create corrupt pigs such as yourself cannot be allowed to live. Consider this a preemptive strike against crime in our future nation."

Francis glared at Rashal with a sudden defiance, "Try and justify your murder anyway you want to, I don't care. It doesn't change the fact that you and your master are nothing more than simple terrorists."

Rashal's face twisted with rage as he searched his mind for a retort. Finding nothing, he uncrossed the "x."

---------------------

A crack rang out through the air as the Chosen Four teleported in front of the Threed Hotel. Police cars and newsteams littered the scene as the police captain, Captain Matthews, ran up to the four children.

"My God, what are you four doing here?"

Ness raised an eyebrow, "Well, we saw the news and decided to help."

"This is no place for kids like you, even if you are the Chosen Four, we have reason to beleive that these guys are trained assassins from Dalaam, very dangerous." Another officer ran up to him and saluted, "What's the word on Johnson's team rookie?"

The rookie gulped, "Sir, he contacted us and said that he'd made it into the hotel's restaurant through the back entrance. Then there were some screams in the background and the, uh, the transmittion cut out..."

Matthews sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he sat down on the ground, "Thanks. You kids see what I mean? Let us try and handle this, it's way too dangerous."

Jeff looked at Ness, "Dalaameese assassins? I guess that this means we _have_ to talk to them."

Ness nodded, "Yeah, what do you think Poo?"

He was gone "Where'd he go?"

Paula pointed to the hotel, Poo was quickly wealking past the police barricade and to the front door. He glared at the front doors before pulling out his sword and vertically slicing the left one from top to bottom. He swiftly kicked the two halves in and rushed into the building.

Ness sighed, "Great, he's lost it... Jeff, why don't you and Paula get the hostages out. I'll help Poo keep the assassins distracted."

Jeff nodded, "Sure thing, be careful okay?"

Ness winked, "I'm always careful."

Poo quickly knocked out the two gaurds at the lobby's doors and looked down at them with shock as Ness entered.

"These men were members of the Royal Guard."

"Well then shouldn't they be helping us?"

"I fear that the situation in Dalaam is worse than I had imagined."

A voice rang out through the empty lobby, "Poo, you are hereby charged with treason by the new king of Dalaam. I am here to place you under arrest."

Ness and Poo turned from the guards to see a Dalaameese man wearing a brown cloak over his armor.

Poo began to walk toward him, "Jin? Why are you doing this, where is Agraj?"

"Agraj is no longer in charge, Rashal has taken control."

"As your prince I order you to stand down and take me to him!"

Jin flicked a knife into the ground at Poo's feet, causing him to stop walking, "Dalaam has a new ruler now, your words no longer bear the weight that they once did. Please comply with my earlier request and come quietly, I do not wish to harm you."

Poo looked down at the ground sullenly, "So this is how it has to be? Ness, go through that door behind him and stop Rashal, he should be wearing a jewel on his helmet."

"Don't be stupid, I can help you here!"

"This man before you is one of the deadliest men alive. You do not know enough of his fighting style to stand a chance against him, please go."

Ness saw that he would be unable to sway Poo and ran past Jin and to the door leading into the adjacent hallway. Jin flung out his right arm and from underneath his cloak extended a spearhead attached to a long chain. Ness froze as he saw the weapon approaching him. Poo picked up the knife at his feet and threw it at the spearhead, deflecting enough to cause it to just miss Ness's head.

"Go!"

Ness nodded and ran through the door.

Meanwhile, Jeff and Paula snuck into the back entrance of the hotel and into its small kitchen. They both looked through the small windows of the kitchen's double doors and into the hotel's restaurant. The five hostages were lined up against the farest wall, all of them on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs. Three men, a woman, and a little girl. In the far left corner of the room were piled the bodies of ten men in full police riot gear. Two men in gold stood in the center of the room while a third stood silently facing the hostages armed with a spear. The taller of the two men appeared to be arguing with the other man who was wearing a small jewel in his helmet.

Jeff looked at Paula, "Can you hear what they're saying?"

She shook her head. Jeff pushed the door open just a little bit and listened.

"I refuse to carry on with this!" Shouted the tall man.

"And why is that Gorj?"

Gorj gave the man a look that said "are you kidding me?" before speaking, "Look at what we've been reduced to since the new master took over? We used to be the king's most trusted men and now we're capturing children! _Children_ Rashal!"

Rashal spoke in an even tone, "I beg you to reconsider your position."

Gorj flung his arms into the air and began to walk away, "This is dishonourable! Agraj would never have-"

Rashal's face twisted in anger as he grabbed Gorj by the arm and flung him to the ground. He loomed over the gaurd and grabbed him by the neck.

"Don't you **ever** mention that name to me again! He was a traitor to the country! Never quesiton my actions on the matter or I will kill you! Understand? Kill you!"

Gorj managed a sneer, "Feeling guilty?"

Rashal twitched the wrist attached to the hand around Gorj's neck and a small blade shot out. Gorj's legs twitched for a moment before he stopped moving alltogether. One of the hostages began to cry.

Jeff gasped in alarm while Paula seemed unphased. Rashal turned toward the sound of Jeff's voice and saw their faces in the kitchen window.

Jeff looked at the man swiftly approaching and only one word could express the various thoughts that ran through his head at that moment.

"Crap."

-------------

Jin grabbed the chain and swung it toward Poo. Poo, sword drawn, leap above the spearhead and toward his former ally. Jin quickly swung his arm upward and hit Poo's legs with the chain, causing him to loose balance and spin into the ground. Jin retracted his weapon quickly and Poo just barely avoided the blade. Jin shortened the chain length and spun it above his head before slamming it into the ground towards Poo. Poo deflected the blade with his sword and then lept away as Jin recovered and swung toward him again.

The young prince landed and began to run to the opposite end of the room. Jin flung his weapon out after him. The blade came inches away from Poo's back before he backflipped into the air. He spun in the air as he soared directly above his assailant. With a yell he swung his blade at Jin's completely ungaurded body. A clang rang through the air as Jin brought up a short sword with his free hand and blocked Poo's assault. Poo pushed off of the sword and landed a few feet away.

Suddenly, a small metal object dropped out from underneath Jin's cloak. It hit the ground and with a loud clapping sound emitted a bright flash. Poo's vison blurred and he vaguely made out a long shadow rushing out of the white void toward him. He sidestepped quickly and swung his sword out to the side. The chain hit his blade and began to wrap around it. As the spearhead swung with the chain it cut Poo's left cheek. Jin smiled as the chain finished it's task and yanked as hard as he could. The Sword of Kings leap from Poo's hand and was flung to the opposite end of the room. Jin threw his short sword threw the air. Poo desperately tried to sidestep, but the sword impaled itself in Poo's shoulder. Poo dropped to his knees.

Jin launched the spearhead at Poo yet again. Poo fell to the side and reached up with both of his hands. He grabbed the chain as it passed overhead and stopped the unusual weapon's movement. He slowly stood up and wrapped the chain around his right hand as he reached over and pulled the sword out of his shoulder. He threw the sword aside and began to pull the chain toward him. Jin tried to pull back but found that the boy in front of him seemed to be able to outmatch him in strength. As he began to slide towards the angry prince, Jin began to panic. He reached under his cloak and released the arm covering that the chain was attached to. Poo yanked the chain, still attached to the loose piece of armor, toward him and swung it above his head only once before slamming the armor portion into the side of Jin's head.

Jin cried out in pain and collapsed onto the floor. Poo ran over to the fallen man and loomed over him. Jin's eyes looked up at Poo through the spaces between his fingers clutching his bruised face. Poo reared his fist back and stopped. A mixed look of anger and sadness contorted his face before he slammed his fist into the ground only inches away from Jin's head.

Wordlessly, Poo straightened, rubbing his now broken wrist, and picked up the Sword of Kings. He turned his back on Jin and began to walk toward the door that Ness had gone through.

Jin sat up and coughed, "Why? Why didn't you finish me?"

Poo spoke without stopping or looking back, "I have no desire to hurt the ones that I care about, even if they no longer care for me."

He went through the door.

-----------

Rashal kicked the door open and grabbed Jeff by the hair. He pulled hard and flung him back into the restaurant. Before Jeff could respond, the other guard came up behind him and restrained him.

Rashal grabbed Paula's arm, "I can only assume that Poo and the one in the red cap went through the front door? Well then it is a shame that you will never see them again, I sent our best man after them."

Jeff let out a dark laugh from the other end of the room, "I wouldn't provoke her like that mister. She's had a bad week and nobody to vent on."

The guard tightened his grip, "Shut up!"

While Rashal was looking at Jeff, Paula had brought her free hand up to grasp the Captain's forearm. Her hand began to glow with psycic energy as she began sending PSI Fire into his gauntlet. Rashal let out a yelp and released his grip. He quickly tore off the searing metal and flung it to the floor. He prepared to backhand Paula but a psycic blast by the young girl sent him sprawling back. As Paula advanced toward him , Rashal discretely removed his other gauntlet and threw it at Paula at lightning speed before she could react. She colappsed as soon as it made contact.

Jeff struggled even harder against his captor, "Paula?"

No response.

"PAULA!"

The nearby door to the restaurant burst open and through it walked Ness, bat ready. The first thing that he saw was Paula.

He pointed his bat at Rashal, "What did you do!"

"As captain of the Dalaam Royal Assassin Squad I, Rashal, hearby sentence you to death."

"Cut the bull and answer my question!"

"You have healing powers correct? I'd suggest that you use them soon , she may have internal head trauma."

Ness made a break for Paula but Rashal quickly stepped in front of him, "I must say that I have been looking forward to meeting the leader of the Chosen Four. The one that even our former prince is willing to follow."

"Shut up!" Ness swung his metal bat at the assassin only to have it blocked by one of his now drawn swords.

Rashal sighed, "Yet another poor leader. I am you're primary target yet all you can focus on is your team mate? You are not worthy to lead."

"Get out of my way!" Ness spun and brought the bat around to Rashal's other side, only to be blocked by the second sword. Rashal gave a counter swing and Ness jumped back just in time. Rashal took a swing at the boy's legs. Ness jumped and hit Rashal over the head with a clang. Rashal stabbed through Ness's ungaurded midsection. Ness gasped and stumbled back.

Jeff screamed and swung his head back violently, hitting the gaurd holding him in the nose. As the guard released his grip, Jeff unholstered his Gaia Beam and fired at Rashal before he could land the finishing blow to Ness. The beam struck him directly in his armored chest. The assassin coughed and fell back winded as Ness knelt to the ground and healed his near fatal wound. The guard who was previously holding Jeff grabbed his spear and chucked it at the blonde haired boy. Jeff turned quickly and shot it out of the air. As he did so he drew a second gun and shot the guard in his helmet, knocking him unconcious. Jeff saw that Ness was alright and he began to untie the frightened hostages while Rashal's gaze was focused on Ness.

Ness slowly stood up and glared at Rashal and the two began to circle one another, "I don't know exactly what went on in Dalaam, but from what your doorman said, it sounds like you've betrayed your former leader."

"I only did what was necessary."

"So who's really behind all of this?"

"If you survive the next few moments then you will find out within the hour."

"What do you mean?"

Rashal smirked, "I do not want to spoil the surprise."

"Do you really think that what you're doing is the right thing?"

Rashal glanced over at the dead police officers and then at the body of Gorj, "Yes. It has to be."

Ness smiled, "You don't sound too convinced."

"Enough talk, you are dead where you stand."

"I don't think so buddy, it's three against one. Not good odds."

"I was unaware that Eagleland natives were so poor at math, there are only two of you."

Ness quickly knelt to the ground. Rashal's eyes widened in shock when he saw that He and Ness had circled each other until the boy was standing right in front of Paula.

Ness laughed and stuck his tongue out at Rashal, "You know you really shouldn't let your opponent circle you if you're trying to keep him from reaching the other end of the room. Just a suggestion."

Rashal screamed in anger and launched himself into the air at the Chosen Boy. Ness's hands let out a familiar glow and Paula's eyes shot open. She quickly stuck her hand out and sent Rashal flying back yet again with a psycic blast.

Ness helped Paula stand up, "You alright?"

Paula's face remained expressionless, "Fine."

Rashal had corrected himself in midair and was dashing toward the two again. This time Ness sent him a blast of PSI Rockin' and sent him against a wall.

Rashal wearily stood up, "I will not suffer this humiliation!"

Poo suddenly burst into the room, sword drawn, "RASHAL!"

The prince charged at his former servant and swung his sword. Rashal blocked with one blade and then slashed Poo across the stomach with the other. Poo fell to the ground and swept his leg out, tripping his former comrade. As Rashal fell he spun and slammed his elbow into Poo's chest. Ness sent another blast of PSI toward him but he leapt forward and narrowly avoided it. Rashal hit the ground running and charged at Ness and Paula. Paula sent a blast of Ice at him but he spun in place and deflected it with his blades. As Rashal brought his blades down, Ness put up a shield at the last second and the assassin dropped his weapons due to the unexpected block. As Ness brought his bat up Renault reached for his spare knife. Finding nothing, his mind flashed back in horror to the moment when he used it to kill Gorj and hadn't removed it from his body. The bat clanged into Rashal's stomach with enough force to bend the armor.

Rashal looked around him and saw that Jeff had freed all of the hostages, Poo had stood up and healed himself, and the other two were still ready to fight.

Ness glared at him, bat raised, "Give it up man. You've lost."

Rashal slammed his fist into the ground angrily, "NO! I cannot loose ! My goals are the correct path for Dalaam's future!"

Jeff shook his head, "Think about this logically, is kidnapping innocent civilians and killing people really what you have envisioned for Dalaam?"

Rashal's eyes widened, "You cannot begin to comprehend the righteousness of my actions!"

Ness jerked his thumb toward the pile of dead officers, "Yeah sure, the families of those guys are really going to think that you were doing the right thing, 'Hey man thank's for killing my husband, he never put the seat down.'"

"What I've done must be correct! If not, then what have I become but a common-"

Poo finished, "Murderer."

Rashal let out a scream of rage and picked up one of his swords. He looked past Jeff toward the hostages filtering through the door. He began to charge toward them.

Jeff raised his gun, "STOP!"

The assassin continued his charge. Jeff fired his Gaia Beam, connecting with the crazed man's side. Rashal slowly stood up and began to stumble toward the remaining hostages, who were now looking on in silence.

Jeff aimed at Rashal again, "I said stop!"

Rashal increased his speed and reached the now frightened hostages. He raised his sword above the terrified little girl's head.

"FOR DALAAM!"

Poo began to run toward Rashal. Ness and Paula tried to aim blasts of PSI, only to find that the girl was too close. The sword began to fall, the girl's mother screamed, a gun fired.

Rashal's sword fell harmlessly to the ground with a clang. A burn mark appeared in between Rashal's eyes where Jeff's Gaia Beam had hit. Rashal fell first to his knees and then sideways onto the ground. The jewel in his helmet fell out with a dull thud.

The Gaia Beam fell out of Jeff's trembling hands as he fell to his knees, "What did I do? What did I just do?"

Ness put his arm around his shoulder and helped him stand back up, "You did what you had to Jeff."

"That's easy for you to say, you didn't pull the trigger."

"Jeff don't do this to yourself, you know that it was him or the girl."

"Maybe, maybe he would have stopped?"

The little girl's mother walked up to Jeff and hugged him, "Thank you. That you so much."

The girl walked walked over to Jeff and held out her hand, "Thanks mister."

Jeff smiled and took the child's hand, "You're welcome."

----------

The Chosen Four walked out of the front door of the hotel with the hostages in tow. Police officers escorted the demoralized former Royal Guards into squad cars. Poo noticed that there was an unusual air of unease about the officers, as if they were waiting for something heavy and terrible to fall upon their heads. A brief look of guilt and distress passed over Jeff's face as the paramedics wheeled Rashal's body past them. The four looked around in surprise to find that the only people left outside were the friends and family of the hostages and a lone black car with the seal of the Eagleand government stamped on the side. All of the news crews had left.

A tall man in a black suit with equally black sunglasses strode over to them, "Greetings Mr. Ness, I am Agent Matthews. I'm with the government, we'd like you to-"

"Where did everybody go?"

"Once I explain to you the current circumstances, you will understand that they had more pressing matters to attend to."

"Fine, what do you want."

"I would like for yourself, Ms. Polestar, and Mr. Andonuts to come with me."

Ness looked at Poo, "What about Poo?"

Matthews did a double take when he looked at the young prince, "I'm terribly sorry, I thought that you were dead."

"I got better."

"I see, that makes sense, you are one of the Chosen Four after all."

Ness brought the conversation back on track, "Why do you want us to go with you?"

"The short answer is: Dalaam has invaded."


	10. God in the Machine

**EarthBound 200X Chapter 9: God in the Machine **

**By Flying Zamboni 2**

Pokey sat smiling on his throne surrounded by the four remaining members of the Royal Guard as the massive computer system before him was switched on for the first time. Various technicians covertly brought in from various labs in Winters sat at the flashing controls. The numerous screens displayed everything from security footage to machine statistics. One of the screens labeled "Security and Weapons Control" showed a room with even more computers being activated.

Cain sat in a corner, watching all of this with a bemused grin while bouncing a ball against the back of a terrified servant's head, "Is it almost time boss?"

Pokey nodded, "Yes, just waiting on the final word from my man in the field."

The throne room's doors slowly swung open and Koga walked in.

Pokey's smile widened in anticipation, "So what's the word my friend?"

Koga shot Pokey a look that could cleave diamonds, "I am many things, but I am not your friend."

Cain giggled as the man he was using as an impromptu wall began to shiver in fear.

Koga continued, "The Chosen Four have made contact with Rashal's forces."

Pokey raised an eyebrow, "And?"

Cain began to bounce the ball faster in excitement as the man before him closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on keeping still.

"Poo has made contact with Jin, Polestar and Andonuts are currently in a combat situation with Rashal while Ness is in pursuit. The victory of the Chosen Four appears imminent."

Pokey clapped his hands, "Excellent. All goes according to plan."

A look of confusion came over Koga's face, "I'd have thought that you would be upset."

He gave a laugh, "Not at all! I never expected the Royal Guard to be able to take down the Chosen Four; I want that honor all to myself! Rashal was meant to be merely a distraction while I have Cain move in with the invasion force."

Cain increased the bounce speed yet again as the man began to sweat profusely, "Is it time then?"

Pokey laughed and snorted, "Yes! Teleport the troops into the center of Onett and do your thing! I'll handle the rest."

The man in front of Cain couldn't stop himself any longer, he sneezed. In a moment of horror, the man saw the ball zoom over his head and hit the far wall as he bent over. Cain was up in an instant and backhanded the side of the man's head.

Cain gave the downed man a kick in the side, "Don't ever make me miss you scum!"

Cain extended his hand and charged it with PSI Fire. Pokey pulled out the small device made from the Devil's Machine with a sigh and pushed the button.

"Now now Cain, let's not kill that servant, he's the one that brings me chocolate. If you must kill someone just take out a villager or something."

To Pokey's shock, Cain clenched his fist and turned around. He was visibly in pain, yet somehow able to move. Cain managed a grin and began to slowly walk toward Pokey, hand outstretched.

Pokey started to panic and began to repeatedly slam the device into the throne's armrest while frantically muttering, "Work, work, work, work!"

Cain's hand hovered inches from the device when suddenly he grunted and collapsed onto the ground.

Pokey relaxed and looked down at his squirming form, "We will discuss this little outbreak later! Until then, I expect you to go out there and do your job! Do you understand?"

Cain spat on the ground.

"I'll take that as a yes," the false king of Dalaam once again pushed the button and Cain's pain subsided, "Now get out of here."

Cain stood up and shot his master a dirty look as he left the room.

Pokey looked at the device in his hand, "He's even begun to adapt to the Devil's Machine. He's too much of a risk to keep around for too much longer."

Koga looked at the door Cain had gone through, "If you wish for me to kill him, then I will. He is the only target I would willingly accept from you."

"Sweet of you but no. He is still much too important to me at this stage; I will deal with him after my goals have been accomplished. Now, go back out there and report back to me once Pig's Butt and his little friends have beaten Rashal. I have to prepare myself for later."

Koga nodded and walked out of the throne room. The only other time that the young man had felt this powerless was after Halibur died. All of the wheels were turning and there was nothing he could do to stop them.

----------------

The people of Onett had lived through an invasion before, and this time they were prepared. When the hundreds of gleaming starmen appeared in the center of Onett, the citizens instantly boarded up their windows and armed themselves with whatever they had on hand. Cain smiled at this and began to walk through the streets of downtown Onett as the starmen remained motionless.

He shouted to the populace in hiding, "Ladies and gentlemen of Onett, as I've been informed, you have all experienced this sort of thing last year. Let me assure you that this time, the situation is completely different. This time you are not being invaded for strategic purposes. This time the motivations behind the attack are completely driven by emotion."

As Cain continued walking, flames spread out along the grass and pavement from his feet, "This time there are to be no survivors."

Cain stopped and raised his right hand into the air while grinning madly, "ALL UNITS ATTACK!"

----------------

The Chosen Four solemnly sat in the unmoving car with Matthews as he explained the situation, "The attack began almost immediately after you arrived in Threed. The assault was led by the escaped convict Cain Haroldson. The army consists entirely of the advanced combat machines encountered last year in that region; the starmen."

Ness looked at Matthews intensely, "What was the target?"

Matthews continued, "From what our surveillance planes could gather before being shot down, the city is rapidly burning and the citizens have armed themselves best that they can."

Ness grabbed him by the shoulders, "What was the target!"

"Onett."

Ness immediately kicked the door of the car open and began to step out of the car. Poo quickly grabbed him while Jeff reached over and shut the door.

"LET ME OUT!"

Poo grabbed him by shoulders and shook him, "And just what do you intend to do huh! How do you think I feel? My entire kingdom has gone out of control right underneath my feet! I understand your sense of urgency but right now we need to listen to what this man has to say!"

Ness relaxed and looked down at the floor, "You're right Poo. I'm sorry Matthews, go on."

"Thank you. I was asked to make contact with you because in his statement, the king of Dalaam said that if you four were gathered for a live discussion, he would begin to talk of a cease fire."

Ness scoffed, "And you believed him?"

"Of course not. We currently have Eagleland's three best military units en route to Onett and the air force is standing by in case the talks go sour. We have decided to humor him on the off chance that he was being sincere. Do you four understand all of this?"

They all nodded.

"Good, then without further delay..."

Matthews flipped a switch on a nearby panel. A screen slid up revealing a built in television. Matthews turned a few knobs and the screen lit up, revealing the smiling face of Poo's old master.

"Why hello everyone. I'm so glad that the Eagleland government has decided to comply with me request and bring you four darling children along for this conference."

Poo nearly stood up in the car, "Why are you doing this? This isn't like you!"

The king began to stroke his chin, "'Isn't like me?' Well have you ever considered that maybe I'm not me?"

"What do you mean?"

The king chortled, then began to giggle, and finally he snorted. Ness's eyes widened in shock as he began to remember someone he'd tried to forget about who shared that laugh. The king pulled out a small device and pressed a button. His image shimmered for a moment before being replaced with the grinning face of Pokey Minch.

"That's right kiddos I've been-"

Ness slammed his fist against the door, "Pokey you stupid sack of lard, what in God's name are you doing!"

"Shut up and let me finish Ness! With you it's always, 'Ness, Ness, Ness!' Well it's me time now okay!"

Poo jumped in, "What have you done with my master?"

"Oh him, I killed him ages ago. I took his place with my nifty hologram machine and have been pulling the strings ever since!"

Matthews sat back in his chair and put his hand over his forehead, "Do you mean to tell me that the Eagleland government has been trying to negotiate with a child?"

"Yes, but please refer to me as 'Master Pokey' from now on."

Ness spoke up again, his voice barely masking his anger, "But I don't understand, how did you even get back here? The last time I ever saw you was years in the past!"

Pokey chortled, "Well why don't you come on up and ask me yourself? Cain's in Onett so the psychic shield is down."

Matthews shot up, "Wait! What about the cease fire agreement?"

"Oh yeah, that. I lied. I really only wanted to see the look on Ness's face when he found out that I'm behind all of this. Oh, I also wanted to show you this."

The screen suddenly switched to a shot of Dalaam suspended in the air.

Pokey's voice could still be heard, "Now, watch closely."

The island began to shake and pieces of land began to slowly slide off and fall from the bottom. As the island began to settle down a faint twinkle of metal could be seen where the rocks and dirt had once been. With a loud mechanical sound the metal began to extend from the island, revealing it to be in shape of a large hollow cylinder. It looked like a cannon.

Poo could barely speak, "Wh-what have you done?"

Pokey barely suppressed his giggles, "It's very simple really, I've mined into the core of the island and built a cannon. I call it the 'Giygas Cannon.' I've also found a way to install computers into the island's core itself, allowing me to move it to where I want it. But don't worry, I'm not over you, I want to kill you in person."

Matthews stared at the cannon in disbelief, "But I don't understand, we would have picked you up on our radar."

"Oh please, if I can move an island, I can build a cloaking device. Now look out your window, do you see that little dot way up there, just over the Threed-Twoson tunnel?"

For the first time, Matthews began to really panic, "B-but that's where our troops are right now!"

"I know! Funny how that works huh? I even put a camera down there so that you can see what happens."

The screen switched to a split view of both the cannon and the massive amount of troops moving through the tunnel. With the sound of a great intake of air, the inside of the Giygas Cannon began to glow red. Suddenly it emitted a loud noise that could be heard for miles as a large crimson beam rocketed out of cannon barrel. Clouds parted as the beam screamed toward the ground. The troops looked up in terror for only a moment before the end came. Tremors shook the earth as the weapon slammed into the Threed-Twoson tunnel. The screen segment displaying the troops flared red for a moment before going blank. The shockwave from the blast blew the car back a few feet as the windows in nearby buildings shattered.

Miles away in Onett the fighting stopped for a moment as the people looked to the east to see the bright glare coming from the Threed area. It persisted for a moment before fading away into nothing.

Back in the car, the blank screen soon switched to a shot displaying a massive one mile crater where the tunnel had once been.

The screen switched back to Pokey, "Wonderful isn't it? I'm going to fire again upon a major city in one hour. Give me control of everything by that time or I will wipe you all from existence. And by the way Ness, I'm looking forward to your visit!"

Pokey quickly bent over in front of the camera and spanked his behind while laughing insanely. Ness let out a scream of anger and threw hit bat at the television, destroying it.

Matthews leaned forward and put his head in his hands, "Good Lord..."

Poo spoke in a quiet voice, "Impossible. He's turned my country into a weapon."

Ness took charge, "Matthews, how long until more troops arrive in Onett?"

"With the tunnel destroyed, three hours."

The leader of the Chosen Four nodded gravely, "I see. In that case, we'd better head out. Good luck on your end Matthews."

Matthews, a million miles away, nodded weakly as the four young people stepped out of the car.

Jeff looked at Ness, "What are we going to do?"

"I think that we're going to have to split up. Some of us are going to have to go to Onett and some of us are going to have to go to Dalaam and stop Pokey."

Paula spoke up, "I'm going to Onett. Cain is there."

Ness nodded, "I figured as much. As much as I want to personally punch Pokey's face in, I'm going to help you in Onett. My family is more important."

Poo nodded in agreement, "Yes that makes sense. As I'm sure you assumed I'm going to Dalaam. Maybe I can talk some sense into Koga. What about you Jeff?"

"Well, it makes the most sense for me to go with you to Dalaam. I'm going to see if I can disable that cannon. Can you take me back to Winters first Poo? I need to grab some equipment first."

"Not a problem."

Ness sighed, "Well I guess it's settled then. Good luck everybody."

Poo looked up at the tiny dot in the sky, "Yes, may we all meet again alive and well."

Without another word, Poo and Jeff teleported away.

Paula grabbed Ness's arm, "Let's go."

Ness looked down at the young girl who used to be so cheerful and happy. He looked now and only saw that the light that was once Paula Polestar was quickly being obscured by a great darkness.

"Paula, don't let him kill you."

She gave him a funny look, "Well I didn't plan on it."

"That's not what I meant and you know it! Don't let him kill who you are! Please don't let him win."

Paula stared forward silently for a moment, "Let's go."

-----------------------------------------

Cain had driven the now armed citizens from the city and into the forest that lay before the hills of Onett. He stood at the front of a squadron of starmen at the edge of the forest. Some of the starmen randomly opened fire into the trees only to be met with a barrage of bullets, taking some of the cold machines down.

Cain sighed, "Well screw this. I really don't feel like resorting to guerilla warfare this early in the week. It's really more of a Friday afternoon type of thing."

He thought for a moment before a wide grin broke out across his face, "I guess I'll just have to burn it!"

The mad general of the Dalaam army snapped his fingers and twenty trees suddenly burst into flames. However within seconds the bright orange flames were quickly replaced by the blue ice of PSI Freeze. Cain began a low chuckle as he looked to his right to see that Paula had arrived. Ten starmen simultaneously opened fire at the young girl. The lasers were negated by her psychic shield as she summoned PSI Thunder to annihilate her attackers.

Cain clapped his hands and chuckled, "Hold your fire guys, go play in the woods for awhile."

The machines didn't budge.

Cain sighed, "God you guys are so literal, it's not healthy. Go into the forest and kill kill kill! It's why your here!"

As the starmen moved into the forest, lasers firing, the madman turned to Paula, "Jesus, it's so tough to find people who appreciate a little humor in the workplace. Now Miss Polestar, I'm so glad that you could make it to the party! How's the family dear?"

Paula gave a rage filled scream and sent out a psychic blast that caused Cain to slide back several feet. Without any movement whatsoever, Cain countered with a blast that knocked Paula on her back. Paula fired off a blast of PSI Freeze only to be negated and then overpowered by Cain's fire. Paula mentally picked up a downed starmen and used it as a shield against the fire flying toward her. The flames were deflected by the machine's metallic body as Paula slowly walked ever closer to her enemy. As she came within feet of him, Cain was forced to stop his assault to avoid burning himself. The lack of opposing force caused the starmen to rocket forward and smash into Cain's body, sending him flying back. He quickly got up and shattered the starmen's remains into hundreds of tiny pieces of sharp metal with a thought. They hovered before him for a moment before he sent them racing toward Paula. She quickly entrapped the shards in her shield and sent the spiky projectile back at Cain. The spiked object connected with Cain's shield and shattered into nothing.

Cain laughed, "You caught me off guard with your little robot trick. It won't happen again," Cain suddenly touched his ear and fell silent for a moment, "Aw, can't it wait Boss? I'm just starting to have fun! Oh all right, I'll humor you."

He removed his hand and lifted into the air, "I'm sorry Miss Polestar, but the fat kid upstairs has just given me some specific orders, I'll be back in a sec."

Cain flew over the forest and toward the hills laughing, Paula in hot pursuit on the ground below.

------------------------------------------

Jeff and Poo cautiously walked up the eerily silent streets of Dalaam. Brief flashes of worried eyes could be seen peering between the boards that had been placed in the windows of homes. Jeff now wore a long coat with a backpack slung over his shoulder, picked up during the duo's brief stop over in Winters. As they neared the palace, there was still no sign of any sort of defenses.

Poo had his hand on his sword, "I don't like this."

"Well that chubby kid seemed to want us to come here, maybe we'll just have to deal with him and Koga."

The two young men reached the front doors of the palace. Jeff slowly reached for the door handle.

Poo grabbed his arm, "Wait."

The prince closed his eyes and concentrated, "I can sense the presence of a large mass of objects inside the entrance chamber. No life force detected. I can only guess that they are starmen planning on ambushing us."

Jeff drew his gun, "Alright then, I'll cause a distraction, you head for the throne room. We only have an hour to stop him and we can't both waste time on just the outer defenses."

Poo nodded and then gave Jeff a second look, "I sense that you are uneasy about using that weapon again. Is this about Rashal?"

Jeff nodded.

"I can only imagine how you must feel, having taken a human life. But you must not destroy yourself with guilt. Ness was right; you did what you had to do."

Jeff took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "I keep telling myself that, yet I can't help but think that maybe there was something else I could have done!"

"Do not start second guessing yourself. You know that it was him or the girl. Just remember that the machines inside are not living beings."

Jeff put on his glasses and let out a long, heavy, sigh, "Yeah, you're right. Let's start this then."

Jeff slowly creaked open the door by just a crack. He immediately sat down and reached into his backpack for an invention that he hadn't used in weeks. Inside of the entrance chamber, fifty starmen readied their lasers as a sliver of light filled the room. A small whirr could be heard from the crack in the door as a small metallic Mr. Saturn waddled into the room, its ribbon spinning as it walked. The small machine suddenly stood still, its ribbon still spinning. The starmen charged their lasers as the ribbon slowed, and then stopped.

"BOING!"

The Mr. Saturn Bomb exploded, sending out smoke and shards of metal that took down a few starmen. The palace's double doors flew open as Jeff ran inside, firing two guns into the group of machines. Poo darted past him and directly past the starmen, slicing a few in half with his sword as he did so. As he passed through the door into the throne room entrance hall, he gave one last worried glance at Jeff.

Poo closed the door behind him and quietly walked through the golden hall, his sword drawn. He suddenly spotted a golden statue that he'd never noticed before. Without warning, he sent out a blast of Starstorm at the immobile object. In a puff of smoke the mirror effect dissipated and Koga leapt out of the way of the blast, narrowly avoiding it. He landed in front of the throne room door and held his scythe out in an attack stance.

Poo sheathed his sword, "Did you really think that trick would work?"

"Not really, but I figured that I could give it a try."

"Why not just let me pass?"

Koga's voice became regretful, "I can't allow that."

"There is no reason for us to be fighting Koga! I know that you do not truly follow Pokey!"

"You are partially correct, I do not wish to follow Pokey. But I do have every reason to fight you."

Poo fell silent for a moment, "Does he have Kara?"

Koga's stance faltered for a moment, "Yes, yes he does. He will kill her if I disobey him or fail in my missions."

"Where is he keeping her? We can stop him together!"

Poo's childhood friend shook his head, "No. He has me constantly monitored; any disobedience and the cage he keeps my sister in will be destroyed with her inside."

"It doesn't have to come to this!"

"You are incorrect."

Koga jumped into the air, his scythe spinning above his head.

--------------------------------

Meanwhile Jeff was leaning up against one of the many stone pillars in the entrance chamber. The starmen fired constantly at the stone, chipping it away little by little. Jeff glanced at the far end of the room at a small steel door marked "Security and Weapons Control." He reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a Multi Bottle Rocket. He lit the fuse and quickly rolled out from behind the pillar, aiming the bottle rockets as he did so. They fired with a bang and decimated a row of starmen. Jeff was up in a flash, sprinting across the room, firing rapidly. A laser shot through the air and hit Jeff's left arm, causing him to drop his gun and fall face first into the ground. The starmen took aim and fired just as Jeff rolled away and threw a bomb. The starmen scattered as the bomb tore apart their ranks. They immediately regrouped and rejoined the offensive as Jeff neared the door. As the new volley of lasers left the starmens' hand cannons, Jeff turned around quickly and activated his Shield Generator. The machine whirred to life and a dark red shield appeared in front of the boy. However the shield could not withstand the laser onslaught and shattered, causing a few shots to take Jeff out at the knees.

Jeff screamed in pain as he fell to the floor. He desperately crawled closer to the door, firing wildly behind him. The starmen edged ever closer as a near suicidal idea dawned on Jeff. He lurched himself forward, just avoiding another attack. He landed hard against the steal door. Jeff pulled out a small code breaking device and set it up against the door's electronic lock. As the device entered hundreds of possible combinations per second, the starmen drew ever nearer. Jeff fired upon his attackers with one hand and fired bottle rockets with the other. As the starmen began to dodge his attacks and ready their guns, the code breaker gave off a faint click, indicating that the door was open. Using all of his strength, Jeff rose to his feet and grasped the door handle. The starmen fired, hitting him multiple times in the back. Jeff let out an adrenaline filled cry as he threw his backpack into the middle of the room and shot it. The bag caught on fire just as he slammed the door behind him. Their target out of their programmed range of protection, the starmen ceased firing and turned to look at the bag for a few moments in silence, analyzing it closely. Suddenly the bottle rockets and bombs in the bag ignited, sending massive amounts of fiery destruction everywhere.

Jeff gave a weak smile as he watched the starmen being annihilated through one of the security room's surveillance cameras. A moment of pain spread through his body and his step faltered for a moment before he sat down and began to hack into a nearby computer. After a few moments, a screen popped up reading, "Giygas Cannon Controls." Jeff smiled triumphantly as he began to find the deactivation command. Suddenly a nearby door opened and Pokey himself walked in, smiling calmly.

"Why hello there Donut Boy!"

"How did you know that I was in here? My code breaker is undetectable!"

"The last transmission from my starmen captain said that you had headed in here. Sorry, but I can't let you destroy my new toy."

Jeff said nothing and quickly drew his Gaia Beam. He put his finger on the trigger when the image of Rashal's body flashed into his mind. He froze for just a moment as his feelings of guilt rushed back into him. It was only a fraction of a second, but it gave Pokey the time he needed to pull his gun and fire directly into Jeff's chest. He coughed and slowly slumped out of his chair and onto the floor. He fell silent.

----------------------------------

Cain touched down on Ness's front yard. The citizens of Onett could be heard fighting the starmen in the forest. He smiled as he began to hear more human screams than mechanical explosions. Cain let down his shield as he walked toward the small home; he liked to feel his victims' feeble attempts at retaliation as he finished them.

With a grin a mile long, Cain kicked in the door to Ness' home, "Who wants to have some fun!"

Cain's eyes widened as he was met with the hateful glare of Ness, standing protectively in front of his family. Before he could put his shield up, Cain was hit full force by a blast of PSI Rockin'. The mad killer was rocketed out of the front door and back into the forest. Paula was waiting for him. As he neared her, she outstretched her hands and stopped Cain with her shield. Cain screamed in pain as the sudden stop felt like hitting a brick wall. Paula lifted him into the air and threw him at a nearby tree. Cain regained his composure just in time and blasted the tree away just before hitting it. He landed neatly on his feet and uprooted three trees from the ground. They hovered around him for a moment before he launched them at Paula. She extended her hands and sent out a blast of PSI Fire that incinerated the trees into ash before they could reach her. She immediately followed up with a blast of ice. Cain's shield negated the blast.

He laughed and lifted Paula off of the ground, "Miss Polestar, you should take great pleasure in knowing that through your death I will be made infinitely happier. That's what you like to do isn't it? Make people happy?"

"Yeah, but lately, I've been acting a bit more selfish than usual."

Paula raised her hand into the air and the ground beneath Cain suddenly lifted into the air. He released his psychic grip on Paula as he lost balance and fell over. Paula began to run at full speed toward the city. Cain stood up, infuriated. Trees burst into flames behind him as behind him as he flew in pursuit of his enemy.

-----------------------------------

Ness finished his blast of PSI Rockin' and turned back to his family, "Are you guys okay?"

Ness's mother hugged Tracy and nodded, "Yes, we've dealt with this type of thing before dear. I only hope that your father is safe. He hasn't called."

"Well call me crazy but I think that the phone lines are down. Besides, I think that this place is the only target so far, so he's probably safe in his office in Fourside."

His mother got up and hugged him, "Oh I was so worried, all of this has happened so fast!"

"I know Mom, but don't worry okay. I'm going to teleport you guys to Dad's office in Fourside. Let's step outside and I'll take you there, I'll explain more once we get there."

They nodded and together with King, followed him outside. Ness prepared to teleport but was stopped by the sound of someone calling his name. He looked over to see that Picky was running toward him, carrying a golf club for self defense, it was slightly bent due to recent use.

"Picky? Are you okay? Where are your parents?"

A look of panic came over his face, "They, they hopped in the car and drove off without me as soon as the attack started. Man I don't understand what's going on! I heard that these guys came from Dalaam, what'd we ever do to them?"

Ness opened his mouth, prepared to tell Picky who was really behind this, but stopped himself, "I have no idea. But don't worry; I'm going to stop it."

King suddenly started barking. Ness turned to see that two starmen had emerged from the woods and were aiming their guns at Ness's family. Ness's mother protectively stood in front of Tracy. Ness leapt forward and bashed one of the starmen over the head with his bat. The second starmen turned to Ness, only to be met with a golf club to the visor. Tracy screamed, A third starman had come out of the woods and was quickly approaching. Ness raised his hand to blast it, but the silver murder machine was too close. Ness and Picky began to run toward it, but they weren't fast enough. The only word running through Ness's mind was "no" repeated over and over again.

"HOO-HAAA!"

A well built man wielding a shovel suddenly leapt out from behind the nearby trees. He batted the starman onto the ground and then severed the lump that comprised its "head" with the point of the shovel.

Ness was overjoyed, "Lier?"

Lier X. Aggerate turned to Ness and gave him a wide grin, "Howdy Ness!"

Ness almost hugged his family's savior, but decided against it remembering how much garlic the man ate.

He settled for a handshake, "I can't begin to thank you enough!"

"Oh it was nothing, although I must admit that I've taken out at least twenty, nay, forty of the beasts! If you must thank someone, thank the massive amounts of manly garlic that I shovel down."

"Uh, yeah. Thank God for garlic then. I'm in a bit of a hurry though; I'm taking my family and Picky to Fourside. Do you want to come with?"

Lier smacked him on the back and gave a hearty laugh, "No, no! I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself! Combat runs in my family! Did I ever tell you that my cousin Eddie was a mercenary? Died on the job the poor jerk!"

Ness's mother tapped him on the shoulder, "Ness honey, we should get going. Thank you again Mr. Aggerate."

"Think nothing of it ma'am. Just doing my manly duty! Say, would you like to go out to dinner some time?"

"No-thanks-I'll-see-you-some-other-time-thanks-again!"

Ness quickly grabbed his family and Picky and teleported to Fourside.

Lier looked at the forest where that battle for Onett was being fought and grinned, "Oh yes, I am the master of manliness."

He raised his shovel in the air and jumped into the fray.

----------------------------

Fourside was a ghost town. Businesses had shut down for the day and the street vendors had been deserted as soon as news of the invasion had broken out. The only business still running was that of Ness's father.

Ness hugged his mother in front of the APE building, "Just stay here with dad all right? I'd come in and say hello to him myself but time is running short."

"Okay honey, just be careful. I just wish that you would tell me what was going on in more detail."

Ness grinned, "I'll tell you all about it when I get back okay?"

She nodded and began to usher Tracy into the building, "I love you son."

"I love you to mom."

Ness wished that he could have said something more to his family as he knew that this could be the very last time that he ever saw them. He tried to think of what the hero would say in this situation, but could think of nothing but the basics. Inspiring last words always seem to appear in one's mind just a moment too late.

Ness took a deep breath and prepared to leave but was stopped by Picky, standing behind him, "It's Pokey isn't it?"

It wasn't really a question, but a statement.

"I understand why you didn't want to tell me earlier, but I can tell. I just have a feeling you know."

Ness knelt down and put his hand on Picky's shoulder, "You're right, it is your brother. But don't beat yourself up over it. Pokey has caused all of his own problems in life; you've been the best younger brother you could be."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Every word. Come on, you're one of the coolest kids I know! Now head on inside and don't worry too much about it. Everything is going to be all right."

Picky nodded and thanked him before running inside to join the others.

Ness got back on his feet and spoke to himself, "Now that was much more inspiring, if I do say so myself."

------------------------------

Captain Strong ran through the forest at speeds he did not know that he could reach. He was out of ammunition and the remaining members of the Onett P.D. weren't doing much better. He stopped in a small clearing, out of breath. The seven remaining members of his squad gathered around him. Silver could be seen flashing through the trees as the starmen edged closer.

One of the men began to panic, "Man what do we do man? I'm on my last round of ammo and we don't have any road blocks! NO ROAD BLOCKS MAN! NO ROAD BLOCKS!"

Strong grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, "Calm down Jennings! We're going to be all right just hang in there!"

Twenty starmen emerged from the trees and surrounded the eight police members. The men with ammunition opened fire; some of them hit their marks and took down their attackers while others only hit non-immobilizing areas. Desperate, Strong threw his empty gun at one of the starmen, only to have it vaporized in mid air. As the silver death squad readied its lasers, Strong's entire team fell silent and began to prepare for their fate. The only sound that reverberated through the air was the quite hum of the lasers charging. With a mighty clap like thunder, a countless amount of bottle rockets flew through the trees and destroyed all twenty of the starmen.

Strong was nearly crying with relief, "Where did that come from?"

Jennings pointed through the trees, "I see police sirens outside the forest!"

The eight police officers scrambled through the forest and emerged near the library. In the distance the city could be seen in flames, smoke choking the sky. In contrast to this image of dread stood Everdred and every member of the Twoson police force, all of them fully armed next to their police cars.

Everdred gave a trademark grin, "Hello Strong, need some help?"

Next to the police force stood twelve nearly identical men in grey jumpsuit and sunglasses. The stood in a straight line facing the forest, multi bottle rockets in their hands.

Everdred raised his left hand into the air, "Arms Dealers Guild, ready," twelve matches lit up simultaneously, "aim," they angled the rockets toward the forest, "fire!"

With a rush of air the rockets flew through the air and annihilated a group of starmen emerging from the trees.

He gave orders like an old military commander, "All right. We don't want to hit any civilians with those blasts, switch to fire arms," he pointed to two of the arms dealers, "You two stay here and use heavy bazookas to destroy any starmen that try and get out of or into the forest."

The arms dealers all saluted and charged into the forest. Everdred took out two cases full of handguns and shotguns and handed them to Strong.

"Give these to your men; I've got some more ammo in my car."

He made for the trees but Strong stopped him, "Where did you get all of this stuff? And who were those guys?"

He smiled, "Oh c'mon Strong! You don't think that just because I stopped being a criminal I stopped having connections too? Does that really matter now anyways?"

Strong sighed, "No, I guess it doesn't."

Everdred slapped him on the shoulder, "Good, then let's go. We've got a city to save. What's left of it anyway."

------------------------------

Koga swung downward only to be blocked by Poo's sword, still sheathed.

"What are you doing Poo?"

"I will not draw my blade against my own kin."

Koga spun in the air and kicked Poo in the side of the face. The prince flew backwards but flipped in the air and landed on his feet. Koga launched a volley of kicks and slashes at him, only to hit air with each strike. Poo ducked, sidestepped, and jumped out of the way of Koga's attacks. Poo grabbed his opponent's foot as he went in for a high kick. With a heave, he spun Koga through the air before letting him go, sending him careening toward a wall. Koga slammed his scythe handle into the ground, the sudden decrease in speed allowed him to flip in the air so that he could push off of the wall and launch back at Poo. The prince slammed his sword sheath into the side of Koga's face and sent him to the ground. Koga spun and kicked Poo's legs out from underneath him. As he went down, the member of the Chosen Four swung the sheathed sword at Koga's midsection. He rolled out of the way and back flipped next to his scythe. Poo recovered quickly and ran at his opponent. Koga swung his scythe horizontally and was blocked again. Poo flipped into the air and landed behind Koga. He slammed the sword handle into the middle of Koga's back, sending him to his knees.

Koga swung his scythe behind him and tried to take out Poo's feet, hitting nothing as the young prince leapt over him. As Poo's feet neared the ground, Koga threw a knife, jamming it into his old friend's left leg. As Poo fell to one knee with a grunt, Koga produced his boomerang out from under his cloak and hurled it toward Poo's face. He caught it with one hand, causing his arm to swing back with moment while his other hand was taking out the knife. Koga used this brief window of opportunity to quickly run up to Poo and slam him in the side of the head with the metal scythe handle. He spun the scythe into an attack position and struck downward. Poo blocked it and countered with a sheath strike. The two continued to duel with their primary weapons of choice; a block, a swing, a counter, a flip, a strike. Koga saw an opening and jabbed Poo's chin with the butt of the scythe. As Poo fell onto his back, Koga gave an anguished scream and swung what would be a killing blow.

-------------------------------

Cain had followed Paula to the outskirts of the city. As he neared her, Paula turned suddenly and raised her hands into the air. A bolt of lightning suddenly rocketed out of the sky at Cain's feet. Although he was immune to the blinding effects of the flash, he could not see through the momentary flash of light. When it subsided, Paula was out of sight.

"Trying to hide in the burning city Miss Polestar? I made the fire; I think that I can walk through it relatively unscathed."

With a bemused grin, he walked in between the nearby burning buildings in pursuit of Paula. Suddenly the buildings shook and began to fall. He fell to the ground without a sound as the bricks and burning wood began to put pressure on his shield. When the dust settled, he was nowhere to be seen. Paula emerged from behind a nearby car and ran toward the rubble.

She began to mentally sort through the debris, angrily speaking under her breath, "Come on you monster, I know that didn't kill you."

"Nope."

Paula turned to see that Cain had teleported right behind her. He shot a fireball directly into her stomach. She put the fire out and launched a volley of ice blasts that harmlessly bounced off of his shield. With a wave of his hand, Paula was flung through the air and onto the road. She heard a sickening "crack" as her left arm broke upon impact. She screamed in pain as she slammed her good arm into the ground. Chunks of concrete ripped themselves up from the ground and rocketed toward Cain. They shattered against his shield, producing cracks that fixed themselves quickly. Cain smiled and tossed Paula into the air like a rag doll. He suspended her thirty feet above the ground and spun her around in large circles while casually whistling "Pop Goes the Weasel." Without warning, he dropped her. Her eyes began to glow white and with a scream of rage she sent a psychic blast at the ground, cushioning her fall while leaving a large dent in the pavement.

Cain grinned, "This is what I wanted to see. Show me what you've got girlie."

She gritted her teeth and lifted ten cars into the air simultaneously. Cain laughed as the cars lined up on both sides of him before slamming together. The resulting explosion knocked Paula onto her back. The fire formed into a large pillar that swirled into the sky. In its center was Cain surrounded by his shield and laughing like a maniac. He raised his arms into the air and the pillar fell. Paula shot out a jet of ice and the two opposing forces clashed and danced through the air. The flames weakened and were overpowered quickly by the ice. Within seconds Cain's entire shield was encased in a solid sphere of clear ice. Paula threw another car at him. The shield shattered but the object stopped centimeters away from his face. He chuckled and shot the car back at her. Paula held out her good hand and stopped the car, sending it into the ground.

Cain smoothed out his suit, "You've played your part perfectly Miss Polestar."

"Shut up," she sent out another chunk of pavement that harmlessly shattered against his shield.

"Every time you throw something at me and I survive, my abilities get stronger. By now I am like a god to you peons."

He held his arms out above his head and the ground began to shake. Jets of flame and ice began to shoot out of the ground as buildings toppled over.

"When I finish with this city Twoson will look like a paradise."

-------------------------------

Ness walked through the entrance hall of the palace and smiled to himself. Whatever Jeff and Poo had done to the defenses seemed to work perfectly. Bits of metal and scorched wiring were scattered everywhere in the normally pristine hall and it did not look like a single starman was left standing. As he neared the door leading into the next room he could hear the sounds of fighting. He quickened his pace and began to push open the door. Suddenly a golden starman teleported next to him and wrapped it's tentacle around his arm.

The voice of Pokey emanated from the starman's voice box, "Woah now! Not that way Piggy."

Ness took out his bat and wound it back, but the voice stopped him, "Hey, hey relax old pal. This starman isn't here to hurt you. It's just going to guide you through an alternative route to the throne room. I wouldn't want you to get hurt in the middle of all that kung fu crap going on in there."

Ness angrily threw the starman's tentacle off of him, "Get away from me! I don't want you're help!"

The robot chuckled, "Fine, but I know that you want to see me just as much as I want to see you. So how about it?"

"Fine."

Ten minutes later, Ness stood before the huge double doors of the throne room. The starman gave a bow and deactivated, leaving Ness alone. He sighed nervously and pushed open the doors.

Pokey sat on the throne surrounded by the final four members of the Royal Guard, clapping, "And the last horse crosses the finish line."

Ness slammed his bat into a nearby computer, "Cut the super villain crap you monster."

Pokey waved a hand to the guards, "Leave us, I'll take care of this."

He waited until they had gone to continue, "I've been waiting a very long time for this Ness."

"So have I."

A blast of PSI Rockin' shot through the air. Pokey pressed a button on the arm of the throne and clear glass shield formed a protective dome around him. The PSI blast died on contact.

Pokey wagged his finger, "I wouldn't bother stupid. I'm well prepared for this."

"Since when did you get so clever? The Pokey that lived next door to me could barely open a can of pickles."

Pokey screamed and slammed his fists into the arms of the throne, "I've always been smart! You idiots just never noticed! Don't you remember all of the important positions that I held during your little 'adventure?'"

Ness rolled his eyes, "Yeah, those all worked out well for you in the end."

He kicked his legs in the air while pounding on the chair some more, "Shut up shut up shut up! I hate you so much you little prick!" He sighed and calmed himself down, "Fine, fine. I'm going to tell you how smart I am."

Ness chuckled and sat down, "Oh, this should be good."

Pokey shot him a dirty look before continuing, "After you beat Giygas and I made my strategic retreat,"

"You mean when you ran away?"

"_Strategic retreat!_ My spider mech was badly damaged, and so was the time drive. When I tried to jump into a random time period, the drive malfunctioned and I was trapped in the time stream. Through a bit of experimenting with the computer, I was able to find a way to send small objects into years of my choosing, but sadly nothing else. That's when I sent you that letter. Do you know how long I was in the time stream Ness?"

He shrugged, "I dunno, what's it been? A year?"

Pokey slammed his fist again, "Wrong! There's no day or night in the time stream, but the internal clock in the mech said that I was there for the equivalent of five years. Five years of hell! Five years of the same scenery! Five years of nothing to do every day! Do you have any idea what that's like? Of course not! Not you, not Mr. Hero! Not Ness the Great Savior of Humanity! But do you know what I did to fill the time Peanut Brain? I read through the mech's data base! Giygas had filled the data base with all of the information that he had on every planet that he had and planned to conquer. But the two most interesting sections of the database for me were the weapons blueprints and the history of this planet. Not just a general history either, Giygas had scouts on this planet since near its beginning. I was able to have the computer calculate when and where I would appear when the time drive finally ran out of power. Needless to say, it was Dalaam. I began to formulate my plan for vengeance immediately. I used the detailed information on Dalaam in the database to find out where Koga and his sister were hiding, I even found an old newspaper article dealing with a young boy named Cain who showed signs of psychic powers at a young age. He was a perfect subject for the psychic augmentation device that was described in the database. I had my entire plan for building my new empire all set; I just needed Poo to be away when I landed. I was able to contact one of Giygas's old scout robots and have it tell me the moment Poo left the country. After that it was just a simple matter of figuring out how to adjust the destination just a little bit to allow for the perfect window of opportunity. And so here I am, future king of the world."

Ness began to laugh, "So, so what you're telling me is, you've been waiting to talk to me so that you could brag that you were smart enough to let a computer do all of your thinking for you?"

Pokey screamed in pure rage, "I brought you up here because I hate you! You're the cause of all of this! I did all of this because of what you did to me! All of you left me behind! You all abandoned me! I hate you, I hate my brother, I hate my parents, I hate Onett, and I hate your three friends!"

Ness looked away from his old neighbor, "Quit being such a child. You caused all of your own problems. No one forced you to help Giygas; that was your decision. I can't feel any sympathy toward you, especially not after what you've done. Not after all of the lives you've destroyed."

Pokey snorted, "So what do intend to do about it? Kill me? You're nerdy friend already tried that and he isn't doing so hot."

Ness shot up, "What do you mean?"

Pokey giggled and pointed to a security monitor behind Ness. Ness turned around slowly and saw Jeff collapsed on the floor, a large wound visible on his chest.

"Jeff? Jeff!"

Pokey laughed behind him, "That's right; I'm taking away everything that you ever loved! If I can take everything away from you, then I've won! Your girlfriend isn't doing so well and Cain's currently trying to disassemble your hometown. I know that you moved your family to Fourside, but I'm sure that he'll reach that area eventually."

Ness glared at him and readied his bat.

Pokey slammed his fingers into the left arm of the throne and four spidery mechanical legs unfolded from the sides of the seat. A panel opened up, revealing a large cannon.

"Goodbye Ness."

-------------------------------

Poo rolled out of the way and onto his feet just as the point of Koga's scythe slammed into the ground. Koga recovered quickly and swung horizontally. The young prince crouched low to the ground and placed his hand on his sword hilt. As the blade swung just centimeters above his head, Poo took a low step forward, doing a 360 degree turn as he did so. In a bright flash of steel, Poo drew his sword and swung it clear through the handle of the Scythe of Kings. The half of the weapon containing the blade spun through the air and clanged against the farthest wall. With a flick of the wrist, Poo sheathed his sword again.

He gave a slight bow to Koga, who had fallen silent, "I do not wish to fight you without your primary weapon. Please, show me where they are keeping Kara."

"You know it's not the simple!"

Koga spun into the air and delivered a helicopter kick to Poo's head. He flew backwards, landing on his feet. Poo carefully placed the Sword of Kings on the ground and charged at his friend. Koga caught the prince's kick and twisted his leg, causing Poo to spin to the ground. He kicked out at Koga's feet, tripping him. Both fighters now lay on their backs. Poo began to rise, only to be met with a punch to the stomach. He countered with the same. Poo began to crawl away, only to have his right foot grabbed. With a heave, Koga lifted Poo by the foot and spun his body in a vertical circle back into the ground. As he heard some bones snap in protest to his harsh landing, Poo kicked out with both legs, connecting with Koga's chest. Poo got up as Koga fell. Both fighters recovered at the same time and leapt at each other. Koga punched with his left and Poo with his right. The two fists were caught by the fighters' free hands. The two princes struggled for a moment before head butting each other simultaneously. They both stumbled back, holding their bleeding foreheads. Koga leapt into the air, his leg extended for a kick. As Koga's foot neared Poo, he spun out to the side with one leg extended. As Koga passed by, Poo's outstretched foot slammed into the back of his head. Koga was sent flailing onto his back, momentarily incapacitated. Poo wearily walked over to the Sword of Kings and picked it up.

As Koga sat up; Poo kneeled before him, "This belongs to you."

He held out the sword in the manner one would use to present it to someone else.

Koga blinked, "What?"

"This sword belongs to the true future king of Dalaam. If killing me is the only way you can spare Kara, then it must be done."

"You would so willingly give up the kingdom to Pokey?"

"I have every confidence that Ness will stop his plans, leaving you in control of this country."

"You already have control of this country Poo! Why are you giving it up?"

The prince smiled, "All this time, I've just been waiting for you to return and reclaim your rightful position. The role of king was never mine to have. I am not of royal blood."

"B-but I-"

"No more objections. This is how it has to be to save Kara. Do what you have to."

Koga got to his feet and drew the sword. It felt heavy in his hands. Slowly he raised it above his head and then stopped. His breathing began to get heavier as images of the starmen army and the ruins of Twoson flashed through his mind. As these thoughts passed through his mind, the sword began to feel heavier. He saw Cain's laughing face as entire cities burned and remembered giving him the power to do so himself back at the Winters Asylum. The sword slipped out of his hands and fell to the ground harmlessly. Koga fell to his knees, put his face in his hands, and began to sob.

"What have I done? What have I been doing? Good Lord what have I done with my life?"

He pulled out a small knife and held it to his own throat, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

Poo knocked the knife out of his hands and put his hand on his shoulder, "No! Koga, there is still time for you to make things right! Ness most likely has Pokey distracted enough that he won't detonate the cage Kara is being held in. Take me to her and you and I can stop this!"

Koga wiped his eyes and stood up, "She's behind the throne room, I know a back way there that takes us around the throne room."

"Let's go."

"Poo. Thank you."

Poo smiled, "Koga you are my brother, what did you expect me to do?"

-------------------------------

While the Dalaam army was being overtaken by the civilian resistance, the city itself was crumbling to pieces. Cain's laughter reverberated through the air as the spires of ice and pillars of fire continued to increase in size. Paula sat on the ground nearby, desperately sending blast after blast of PSI at Cain to no avail. She stopped, her spirits crushed, and watched helplessly as the city was destroyed around her.

Cain looked at her, "Oh don't stop now Miss Polestar! I thought that you were an optimist!"

The madman made a motion with his arms and the continent of Dalaam began to float toward him.

-------------------------------

Ness deflected the laser blast out of Pokey's cannon and charged toward him. He leapt into the air to avoid the next blast and swung his bat at the throne mech's protective shield. The shield cracked slightly before Ness was knocked away by one of the mechanical legs. Pokey laughed and kicked Ness again. He quickly recovered and used PSI Flash. Blinded, Pokey began to randomly fire throughout the throne room, destroying a row of security monitors. A stray beam hit Ness in the chest, winding him.

Pokey heard him cough in pain and laughed, "Sounds like I hit you Piggy! Once I can see again, I'm going to impale you!"

Despite his pain, Ness took out a leg with a swing of his bat. The mech's legs made mechanical sounds as they repositioned themselves into a tripod position. Pokey's sight began to come back and he swatted Ness away again with another leg. As Ness lay on his stomach, Pokey fired a shot into his back. Ness screamed in pain and began to crawl away.

Suddenly one of the mech's legs stabbed through Ness's left calf. Ness let out a scream and desperately swung his bat at the leg, but he couldn't get a good enough shot to take it out.

Pokey raised a second leg into the air, "This next one goes through the heart. Nice knowing you buddy!"

Ness quickly rolled onto his side as best as he could and knocked the pointed leg away. He dropped his bat and wrapped one hand around the leg pinning his leg to the ground. Ness let out a blast of PSI Rockin' from his hand and annihilated the piece of machinery. The close proximity caused Ness to singe his own leg.

As the throne mech frantically readjusted its balance to stand on two legs, Ness began to heal his leg wound, "I guess you couldn't make those legs out of a metal that was strong enough to withstand a close range blast like that. Looks like you still can't think things through entirely."

Pokey screamed in rage and prepared to fire another blast from the cannon. Suddenly the continent shifted, causing both Pokey and Ness to fall over.

Pokey began to panic, "What's going on?"

"Shouldn't you know? I thought that you were the one that controlled this place's movement!"

"This isn't me Stupid For Brains!"

Cain's voice came through a small speaker on Pokey's throne, "Howdy boss. Just finishing up a little project of mine."

"Cain? What are you doing you maniac?"

"I just told you, jeez you should pay more attention man. Well, I'll be seeing you if I make it through this. I'm out."

The entire room began to shake violently.

Ness shouted at Pokey, "What's going on?"

"My God, I think that he's charging the Giygas Cannon! He must be psychically manipulating the controls! Cain! Stand down! Do not fire with my army still down there! Do you here me? Cain!"

-------------------------------

Cain finished his conversation with Pokey and looked up in the sky. Dalaam was floating directly above Onett and the Giygas Cannon was charging. Meanwhile, the city was still falling apart.

Cain looked at Paula, "There. I've given you all the tools that you need Miss Polestar! Go ahead, pull the trigger on that cannon up there and stop me! You'll take the city and yourself down too, but it'll probably kill me!"

Paula looked up at the cannon, a look of anger on her face.

"Come now missy, I know that you're able to find the triggering device from here, I've no doubt that you'll be able to fire it. Go ahead, take me out!"

Paula silently began to silently search for the triggering device.

"Yes, that's it! Kill all those innocent people just to stop me! I don't blame you; remember what I did to your hometown? Your parents?"

She gave Cain a look of pure hatred as he found the trigger. She psychically reached for the button that would fire the cannon, destroying herself and the entire city in the process. But at the moment, she thought that it was worth it.

_Don't let him kill you Paula._

She uttered one word, "No."

Cain's grin faded, "What?"

Paula let go of the trigger and relaxed, "I said no. I'm not going to become you."

The Giygas Cannon stopped charging and cooled down. Cain scowled and sent a psychic blast into her stomach.

He hovered over to her and grabbed her by the neck, "Do you have any idea why I hate you so much? Because you have everything I always wanted as a kid. You had close friends and parents that loved you. When your psychic abilities started to developed, everyone accepted you and helped you grow. My family sent me through shock therapy until I repressed it!"

Paula managed a reply, "Oh cry me a river. I'm supposed to excuse what you did because you had a crappy childhood?"

"No, I just thought that you should know why I'm going to break you before I do it. I was planning on having you destroy your own self willingly, but I guess I'll have to resort to plan B."

Cain's eyes suddenly began to glow yellow, "This is a mind wipe technique that I've been working on. It's really very neat."

Paula made eye contact and suddenly felt Cain's presence inside of her mind.

"Now what should I wipe out first? How about the boy!"

Paula was suddenly taken back to the cabin in Peaceful Rest Valley a little over a year ago. She was sitting in her cell; waiting. She didn't know what the person she was waiting for looked like, but she knew that he was coming to save her. The cabin door creaked open and a boy in a red cap with a yellow backpack walked in, smiling.

"Are you Paula? It's nice to meet you, I'm Ness!"

Cain suddenly appeared next to her in her memory, "Bingo!"

Cain's still-glowing eyes flared and the cabin began to shatter like glass around her, leaving a black void in its place. It was just her and Ness. From the feet up, he began to disintegrate.

"Ness! Wait!"

He continued to disappear, "Wait," she frantically searched for his name, "N-n-n..."

By now only the tip of the red hat could be seen.

"NESS!"

He began to reform along with the cabin.

Paula turned to Cain's presence in her memory and commanded, "Get out."

In the real world, the glow of Cain's eyes flared out of control as his own technique began to backfire into his own mind. He dropped Paula and grabbed his head in pain.

"NO! NO! NO! MAKE IT STOP! WHAT DID YOU DO? STOP IT STOP IT!"

He fell to his knees and held out his hands to let out a blast of PSI Fire, but to his horror could not concentrate enough. Cain let out one final scream before falling flat on his face. He was alive, but his mind was destroyed. With Cain's powers gone, the fires caused by his PSI began to put themselves out.

Paula, mentally drained, lay back in the grass and began to laugh for the first time in weeks.

-------------------------------

Jeff lay motionless, but his mind was still thinking things over.

"Why should I get up? I don't deserve it. I've taken a human life, am I really any better than Cain or Pokey?"

Ness's words floated through his head, "You did what you had to do Jeff."

"You all keep saying that, but was there something else that I could have done? I'm not good looking, I'm not athletic, the only things I have are my inventions. What good are they if they kill people? I'm one of the Chosen Four! I'm not supposed to be the one who kills people! I always thought that was the bad guys. When I visited Snow Wood after we beat Giygas, the other kids couldn't believe that I'd been able to help. Now I see why, I don't belong with them. I had this coming. I can't even move my body right now, I can't stop the cannon."

The image of the little girl that he'd saved flashed into his mine, "That girl thanked me didn't she? In all my guilt I'd almost forgotten about her. She would have died if I wasn't there!"

The voice of reason came through in the voice of his father, "And what about the people who will die from the Giygas Cannon? Are you so selfish that you would let them die because of your own guilt?"

"You're right. I may have done something I regret, but I can't just wallow in self pity while others suffer! I have to get up! I have to keep moving!"

In the Security and Weapons Control Room, a hand suddenly shot into the air and slammed into the control panel. With a scream of pain, Jeff lifted himself back into the chair. Although his vision was fuzzy, he was able to hack into the system again and reach the control screen for the Giygas Cannon. With a few key strokes he shut it down.

"I don't know if I'll be able to forgive what I did, but I think that I can try and make up for it..."

Finally starting to feel some of his self degradation drift away, Jeff passed out in his seat.

-------------------------------

The Giygas Cannon's charge now stopped, Pokey wasted no time in trying to readjust the throne mech's balancing mechanism to work with only two legs. Ness saw the machine wavering in the air and smirked. He charged and leapt into the air, bat wound behind his head. Suddenly a new leg sprouted out from the front of the mech and smacked Ness in the stomach, sending him into row of broken computers.

Pokey snorted, "Surprise is very important in battle Pig's Butt! I would think that the _Great_ Ness would know something like that!"

He let out a high pitched laugh and shot Ness with a low powered blast. Ness screamed and Pokey sneered, shooting him three more times.

Pokey flipped open a panel by his hand and began to hit some buttons, "Now that I know that I'm able to beat you, I don't really have a problem firing the Giygas Cannon at Onett. Now that you're about to die, you won't be able to stop me when I build more starmen. I should have built more for this attack anyways, looks like they're loosing."

Ness coughed, "Why? Why destroy you're own home town? Just kill me and get it over with!"

"I want you to die knowing that I killed everything you loved. After I finish with Onett, I'll keep you incapacitated until I wipe out Fourside and your dear old mom and pop? I killed Jeff, and Paula's going to die in the blast. You'll have nothing left."

Ness could only stare at Pokey with a glare that could cleave stone.

Pokey giggled, "What's with that look old buddy? Do you hate me? Well I can assure you that you only feel a fraction of what I feel towards you!"

Pokey's fat fingers pressed a few more buttons before pressing "execute." Nothing happened. He pressed it again. Still nothing.

"What?"

Ness was up in a flash, able to heal himself while Pokey blathered on. Before his enemy could react, the Chosen Boy smashed the cannon off of the side of the throne mech before blasting off all of its remaining legs with PSI Rockin'. The throne segment of the mech smashed into the ground. Pokey screamed in panic as Ness smashed his bat into the clear shield protecting him. The false king crawled further and further back in his chair with each subsequent blow that Ness delivered to the shield. With a loud crash the dome shattered around the two adversaries. Ness grabbed Pokey by the collar and saw with disgust that the former king had urinated on himself.

"J-just joshin' Ness!"

Ness threw him out of his seat and onto the ground. With a few swings of his bat, the throne was destroyed. Pokey screamed in rage and pulled out his laser while Ness's back was turned. A knife flew through the air and embedded itself in the barrel of the gun just as Pokey pulled the trigger. The machine backfired and exploded in his hand. He held his burnt hand and turned to see Koga and Poo standing in a nearby doorway.

"What are you doing Koga? Kill them, KILL THEM ALL!"

Koga shook his head.

Pokey screamed again and took out a detonator, "Well then little sis goes boom!"

He pushed the button, but nothing happened. Poo wordlessly tossed four disarmed explosive charges on the ground as Kara stepped out from behind Koga.

Pokey began to hyperventilate, "No, no, no, no, no this isn't how it was supposed to go! But don't worry, I have a plan B."

He pulled out a small remote and pressed a button. The island immediately began to shake violently.

The usurped king began to laugh, "This is the end or you all! I've sent the island into a free fall over Onett! We're all going to die in moments and there's nothing you can do about it! I've outsmarted you Ness and all of your little friends too! I AM MASTER POKEY, LORD OF ALL I SEE! BOW TO ME PEONS!"

As Pokey continued to break down; Ness neared him and cracked him over the head, knocking him unconscious.

He looked at Poo, "Is there any way to stop this?"

"Dalaam is suspended by an ancient crystal located in the center of the island. How Pokey controls this place I know not."

Koga stepped forward, "I do. He mined into the center and used his machines to manipulate the crystal."

Ness nodded, "Well then it's simple, we just have to go down there and smash up the machines."

Koga shook his head, "It's not that easy, he programmed them to explode upon deactivation or removal. It's a suicide mission."

Poo nodded, "I'll go."

Ness grabbed his shoulder, "Poo no! We can think of something else!"

"Ness, my family has finally returned to Dalaam. I must do all that I can to protect them. We don't have time to think of something else."

Kara grabbed his arm, "Don't go!"

Koga nodded, "I understand Poo," he held out the Sword of Kings, "This truly belongs to you. I gave up my position as royalty years ago; you are the true future king of this country."

Poo took the sword and bowed, "Thank you. Take care of the kingdom if I don't make it."

"Do not worry about me," in one swift movement he knocked Poo out cold.

Ness caught him as he fell and gently put him on the ground, "Are you sure that you want to do this Koga?"

Kara leapt in front of her brother, "Don't! I need you here! Please don't leave me!"

Koga put his hand on his sister's shoulder and smiled for the first time in weeks, "You are a strong girl Kara; you will have Poo looking after you from now on. I've done some horrible things recently and I must atone for them. I will not let another innocent person suffer through my inactivity. This is how it has to be."

Kara nodded and sat on the ground in tears as Koga ran out of the palace and toward the caves leading into the center of the island. Within moments he stood before the small but powerful device that was attached to the crystal.

As he placed his hands around the machine, Koga spoke to himself, "You know, for the first time in years, I feel truly happy about a decision that I've made. This is how it should be. This is right."

With a serene smile, he pulled the device from the crystal.

**Epilogue: Breathe**

Two weeks later, Ness descended the stairs in his home to the familiar sight of his mother making breakfast for Tracy. His father was seated at the table, reading a paper displaying a picture of Pokey Minch. The headline read "Former King of Dalaam On Trial for War Crimes!"

"Morning Mom!"

"Good morning honey! Eating this morning?"

He shook his head, "No, I'll eat in town today. I'm late as it is, the others will be waiting for me."

He kissed his mother goodbye and teleported into the center of the city. While the citizens had been able to destroy Pokey's starmen with surprisingly little loss of lives, the city itself had suffered immense structural damage. Ness teleported into the middle of the construction effort. Volunteers from as far as Winters had come to help rebuild. Ness looked up with a smile to see that Dalaam had finally ascended back to its original position in the sky. Ness caught Paula in the crowd and waved at her. She smiled and waved back before psychically clearing away some rubble.

He caught up with her, "Hey Paula, how're things back in Twoson? I haven't seen you around here for a few days."

She smiled, "Well, Mr. Everdred told me that he wants to take care of me from now on."

"That's great news!"

"Yeah. By the way Ness, I was thinking about doing something..."

"What?"

"Well, Mr. Everdred has agreed to help me restart the preschool. I'd like for you to help me, i-it'll only be after school of course."

"Of course Paula, I'd love to!"

Without thinking, they hugged each other.

They suddenly heard a polite cough from their right, "Have you two seen Poo?"

Ness turned his head to see Jeff standing nearby, "Sorry Jeff, not yet. I'm sure that he and Kara will be by soon though."

"Ah good, I'm supposed to help him dismantle all of Pokey's machinery today."

With a crack, Poo and Kara appeared in between the group of friends.

"Greetings."

Jeff grinned in anticipation, "Is everything ready to be dismantled up there?"

Poo laughed, "It was ready to be taken apart the moment it was built Jeff."

Paula began to move some more rubble, "Well good luck with all of that. Ness and I can handle the cleanup by ourselves just fine from now on."

Poo bowed, "Thank you Paula. Oh before I forget, I'd like to remind you all that I will officially be crowned king next month, I would greatly appreciate you all being there."

Ness smiled, "Of course we'll be there Poo. Now get going, you've got a lot of work to do."

-------------------------------

Koga sat on a nearby hill, watching the Chosen Four talk with a smile on his face.

An old man suddenly appeared beside him, "Are you sure that this is what you want to do?"

Koga gave a start, "Star Master? Where have you been during all of this?"

"I knew that you would all take back the kingdom without my intervention. It is not my place to get involved unless absolutely necessary. Now, about my earlier question..."

Koga sighed contently, "Yes. I'm positive that this is how it needs to be. If Poo thinks that I am dead, he will not attempt to wait for me to return and become king. He needs to focus, now more than ever."

"You do not wish to become king?"

He shook his head, "No, I've never wanted to. Poo was always the smartest and bravest of the three of us. This is for the best. Besides, with the support of those other three, he will have no difficulty overcoming any problems that arise. Together, those four are invincible."

"Do you intend to return one day?"

"Maybe. But there are many things that I must do first. I did so many wrong things while helping Pokey. I must atone."

Star Master nodded, "Yes, I understand."

Without another word, he disappeared.

-------------------------------

Kara stared absentmindedly at the hills around Onett as Poo talked with the others. She gasped as she saw the figure of a boy standing by a nearby tree and teleporting away.

Poo looked at her, "Is everything all right Kara?"

She nodded and smiled, "It was nothing, don't worry. Everything's going to be fine."

"Well then, we should get going," he grabbed Jeff and teleported back to his country.

And so the Chosen Four began to rebuild their lives and move forward, finally free of the past and able to look forward to the future.

**The End**


End file.
